# Von Trier's Antichrist **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 21, 2011, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/von-triers-antichrist/586321 "2011-06-21T18:41:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Living_Well_Is_Best_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2011, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/von-triers-antichrist/586321/1 "2011-06-21T18:41:34Z")
Anyone see this? Thoughts? I was not prepared for this horror when I watched it on Netflix. Still wondering why they recommended this for me. I enjoyed it, but never want to see it again. ---
**Author:** ![Placid\_Liver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e99b99/32.png) [@Placid\_Liver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Placid_Liver)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/von-triers-antichrist/586321/2 "2011-06-23T12:55:33Z")
I don’t think anyone can be prepared for the horror of that movie… I sure wasn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Steophan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steophan/32/9595_2.png) [@Steophan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steophan)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/von-triers-antichrist/586321/3 "2011-06-23T13:18:59Z")
I was prepared for it, as I’d read several reviews of it. It has some of the most beautiful cinematography I’ve ever seen, and the opening scene is heartbreakingly beautiful. The rest of the film, less so, but still worth watching. I’ve not watched it again, mainly because it’s so intense, but I imagine I will at some point. ---
**Author:** ![Jaledin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jaledin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaledin)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/von-triers-antichrist/586321/4 "2011-06-23T21:14:37Z")
It took two tries to see it. I can’t defend my answer to anyone’s satisfaction but my own, but I found it self-indulgent, juvenile, and thoroughly disgusting. Without any merit I could see. I’d rather (almost) watch it again than one of those Aronofsky high-school/undergraduate-projects made with larger-than-student budgets, but that’s not saying much, is it? I’d recommend “August Underground’s Mordum” for a less disgusting version of the same thing. ---
**Author:** ![gladtobeblazed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/85f322/32.png) [@gladtobeblazed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gladtobeblazed)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/von-triers-antichrist/586321/5 "2011-06-23T21:41:57Z")
A beautiful film, the best of 2009. Charlotte Gainsbourg should have been nominated for an oscar. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/von-triers-antichrist/586321/6 "2011-06-23T22:08:32Z")
I would totally buy a fox plush toy that says “chaos reigns.” ---
**Author:** ![papergirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/aca169/32.png) [@papergirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/papergirl)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/von-triers-antichrist/586321/7 "2011-06-23T22:15:33Z")
> [@gladtobeblazed](#): > > A beautiful film, the best of 2009. Charlotte Gainsbourg should have been nominated for an oscar. I haven’t seen it–I found even the written descriptions overwhelming–but I’m curious. What makes you describe it as beautiful? The cinematography? Dialogue? It doesn’t sound like something I could think of as beautiful, so I’m just interested in more input. (You aren’t the first to have this opinion–just the first one I could buttonhole. 🙂 ) k ---
**Author:** ![Jaledin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jaledin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaledin)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/von-triers-antichrist/586321/8 "2011-06-23T22:17:20Z")
> [@gladtobeblazed](#): > > A beautiful film, the best of 2009. Charlotte Gainsbourg should have been nominated for an oscar. I’m glad it spoke to you. I must say, C. Gainsbourg (I assume she’s related to the songwriter/singer) gave a pretty brave performance, but I couldn’t find much beyond that aspect to praise in her shtick. You’re not the first to mention the photography (I assume that’s what you’re talking about) – can anyone give an idea of what aspects of the DP’s work was noteworthy? ---
**Author:** ![gladtobeblazed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/85f322/32.png) [@gladtobeblazed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gladtobeblazed)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/von-triers-antichrist/586321/9 "2011-06-23T23:09:58Z")
It wasn’t just the cinematography that was beautiful. I thought the screenplay showed an excellent portrayal of grief, despair and mental illness. I know that Von Trier is a pretty troubled individual, and it really comes across in this film. It connects me, the audience, to the artists in a way that few films have. It’s a masterpiece of psychological horror. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/von-triers-antichrist/586321/10 "2011-06-24T00:15:22Z")
What’s so shocking in it?