Fever theme

One of the most interesting film experience I have been to in a long time. Lars Von Trier is the Writer/Director of Antichrist. This Horror/Drama packs a NC-17 rating with its exploring themes of nature/belief/self-torture. The themes of the film creates the controversies surrounding this film. Once in a great while that a director would take his ideas and literally run with them with a pair of scissors. The film is remarkable and brilliant throughout. With only two characters to run through the film of Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg.

The film starts off with a prologue, four chapters, and finishes with a strong epilogue. The film starts off with a driven sexual sensation. While their child decides to take a stroll out the window. And with the worse kind of pain is losing a child. The idea of burying your own child into the ground is unthought-of. But unfortunately this is how the story begins. Later the film takes us into the cabin in the woods. I started to laugh out loud the moment I saw where this was going. I mean how many horror films have we seen that evolves around the cabin in the woods. To refresh your memory Evil Dead 1 &2, Cabin Fever, Friday the 13th, and there are lots more to go but you get the picture.

Right before going to the cabin in the woods. After the burial of the child, the film picks up the couple at the hospital she (Charlotte Gainsbourg) collapses at the Nic’s funeral. Now this is where the real boredom starts but it is every important that you pay attention. Because this is where the character development takes place. Now the writing for the most part is very slow but I believe that the director wanted to test our limits of patience. The characters in the film never spoke each other names due to the fact that only two characters are featured in the film. And the only name heard through the film was the child’s name, Nic.

With these nameless characters driving the film. We learn that Willem Dafoe’s character is a therapist and distrustful of the care she is receiving at the hospital. He decides to take action into his own hands. Like any other therapist, he tries to find out what she (Charlotte Gainsbourg) fears most. She tells him that it’s a place called Eden, hence the cabin in the woods. A happy place where she spent her time with Nic and writing her thesis (Gynocide). These characters are created for only two reasons and two reasons only is to either like them or hate them. Willem Dafoe represents the idea of nature, he tells her that sometimes there are things that happen for a reason. And that the reasons cannot be explained. While the Charlotte Gainsbourg comes to despair due to the knowledge of Gynocide. She believes that women are inherently evil. She did not believe this till her studies reveal this so called facts on witch-hunts articles, and her notes on misogynist topics. At this point her mind is so far out of reach that she now thinks of herself, evil.

In each of the chapters entitles Grief, Pain(Chaos Regions), Despair(Gynocide), and The Three Beggars. Each of these chapters explore a theme. The first chapter Grief explores how this couple deals with their grief. As he (Willem Dafoe) believes to be making progress, she (Charlotte Gainsbourg) uses sex to take two steps back while her improvement is progressing. While chapter two Pain (Chaos Regions) as the couple enters into Eden, this is where the rights are wrong. When Despair enters her mind, this is where her mask is slipping and her true face is shown. This chapter is where the audience should stop their snacking because you will find out this experimental idea. And as the three beggars come around this is where everything that happened will end. Where nature must take back control and undo what has happened. Erasing the wrongs into creating the right order.

I have to say this film is not for the weak of stomach. While viewing the film I find myself being scream mish. While I see the women curling up into a fetal position. Now you would think I would give away the good parts but I wouldn’t. I just wished that I was there to take a picture of your facial expression while it happens. Over the years  I’ve seen a lot exploration films and one of my favorites is Audition, Writer/Director Takashi Miike. Where this film explores the ideas of an ideal woman. And once you seen his films you’ll understand what he is trying to achieve. But for this it made my stomach turn. My mind is blown away that it became speechless. The film is unfavorable because of this idea of misogyny. The film was written in a way for the audience to hate it. I hate to say it but I enjoyed the film. Due to the fact of its interesting character development not the nature of the film. I believe that at the time when Lars Von Trier was writing the script. He was in a deep depression so the dark that was lurking inside of himself was coming out.  Where the idea was completely fixated on that theme. I just hope that this film was his therapy session.