I have heard quite a bit about director Lars von Trier without watching any of his movies until now. He is known for pushing the limit as to what is acceptable to put on screen and Antichrist is no exception. There is always a fine line between showing violence for the shock value or using it in an artistic context. Antichrist has been very hyped based on some very strong scenes, but I must say it was not as bad as people want us to believe. Still, there are 2-3 very explicit scenes that will make you look away or feel uneasy.
Antichrist is a movie that is very hard to review and rate. It is possibly the most artistic movie I have ever seen, with every scene being planned down to the last detail and filled with metaphors and connections to books and other art. I am fairly certain I only picked like 30% of everything which leaves me to believe that the movie can be viewed several times without being boring.
Both Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg are amazing in their respective roles and are close to the only human characters on screen. I have always been a fan of Dafoe because he is never afraid to take the challenging roles and he always pulls them off!
Leaving the Cinema I was unsure what I was feeling. The movie has a dark ending and there is a lot of unexplainable stuff going on. I also felt that the movie was a bit to artistic for my liking. All I can say is to watch it and make up your own mind. My rating is 7/10