Willem Dafoe believes one of his most controversial films is simply misunderstood. In an interview with The Louis Theroux Podcast, the Nosferatu actor opened up about the legacy of Antichrist
, the 2009 film written and directed by Lars von Trier and co-starring Charlotte Gainsbourg.
Dafoe and Gainsbourg play an unnamed couple haunted by the death of their son, who retreat to their cabin in the woods in an attempt to grieve and repair their troubled marriage. The man begins having strange visions, while the woman’s behavior becomes increasingly violent and sexual in nature. The film is infamous for one particularly graphic scene involving a delicate part of the human anatomy.
Debate about whether the film is misogynistic or subversively feminist began as soon as Antichrist made its debut at the Cannes Film Festival. Dafoe thinks it’s the latter. He told Theroux:
“I think it gets misidentified because of some of its extremeness… but I think it really speaks to interesting things about women’s power, men’s fear of women, the struggle between the logical and the magical in life. There’s lots of sexual politics in it, and it’s not about misogyny at all… I think [von Trier] identifies with the women more than the man.”
Dafoe believes the disparate nature of the responses towards the film is due to the disappearance of thoughtful film criticism itself:
“Listen, there’s this problem where we reduce these things that are very complex to kind of the warts, you know? And then that’s what goes out… It’s particularly a problem as real film criticism disappears and gives way to short form and TikTok and influencers and all that. There’s not the dialogue that some films of sophistication deserve… “
Controversy Has Followed Von Trier For Most of His Career
Von Trier, often identified as a provocateur, has seen numerous controversies over his career. In 2011, he was temporarily banned from Cannes during a press conference in support of Melancholia where he made remarks that sympathized with Hitler and identified him as a Nazi. Gainsbourg, who also stars in Melancholia, chalked up his remarks to a “a joke that went badly off the rails.”
In 2017, singer Björk, who starred in von Trier’s 2000 dark musical Dancer in the Dark, accused the director of sexual harassment and creating a toxic work environment. She also insisted stories about her being “difficult” on set were spread in retaliation to Björk standing up to Von Trier. The director denied all accusations, though he did confirm that he and Björk didn’t get along.
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After the release of von Trier’s 2018 serial killer film The House that Jack Built, accusations of misogyny on the part of the director were once again raised. The film features numerous graphic scenes of violence against women, including one scene in which the main character Jack (Matt Dilllon) mutiliates a woman. Critic Lucy Jones of The Independent found the film to be ultimately meaningless and derivative of every other serial killer film in existence, thus making the violence seen on screen disturbingly mundane.
Release Date
May 20, 2009
Runtime
109 Minutes
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