Phonology

Having been fortunate enough to see Antichrist at the Edinburgh International Film Festival a few weeks ago, it seems fitting to write a little about it on the week of it's UK release. I'm no film critic, but I'm open minded and can enjoy the strangest of films. Two of Lars Von Trier's previous films, Dancer in the Dark and Dogville, are favourites of mine and are unlike anything I've ever seen, so a horror film of sorts with his name on it was a big draw.

Unlike half the audience I went into the film blind, apart from hearing the words misogyny and torture porn bandied about. The cinematography by Anthony Dod Mantle is breathtaking from the word go, whether in lush, almost psychedelic colour or stark black and white. It is simultaneously the most beautiful, heartbreaking and repulsive film I have ever seen and I adored it.

Without spoiling, and from the official imdb entry: A grieving couple retreats to their cabin in the woods, hoping to repair their broken hearts and troubled marriage. But nature takes its course and things go from bad to worse. Understatement of the year. Utterly compelling performances by Charlotte Gainsbourg and Willem Dafoe, with Gainsbourg winning the Best Actress Prize at Cannes.

This is extreme cinema, completely shocking, and probably the most visually stunning thing I have ever seen. The stuff of nightmares. Be prepared.