Antichrist (The Criterion Collection) [DVD]

[Edit: 11/10/10 Received my pre-order copy yesterday. Criterion delivers! The following address some serious pre-release ambiguieties/anomalies.]Big Questions that need answering for this Criterion Release. Many are unthinkable for such a prestigious company as Criterion, but they're demanded and need circulation/speculation prior to the release:1. The Region 2 copy for France listed on Amazon is 120 minutes. This one is listed as a 108 minute runtime. The Catholic version was the one released for theaters in France. Is Criterion releasing the uncut "Catholic" version or the cut"Protestant" version? Will obtaining an unspoiled copy of a cinematic masterwork be as difficult as it currently is to find a legitimate copy of LvT's "The Idiots"?2. The US is a 'prude market' according to Zentropa Entertainments:"We reached an agreement with Lars more than a year ago to make a 'Catholic' version of the movie, to cut some scenes and replace them with others," Peter Aalbaek Jensen, the head of the Zentropa production group, told AFP."Otherwise it would be impossible to sell (it) to prude markets like southern Europe, Asia and the United States, where you can't show a naked man from the front," he said.[taken from France 24 online news]3. IFC's released version was uncut.4. IFC and Criterion recently made a merger.5. Amazon needs to make this information available and clearly listed on the product page and the blue ray format, otherwise it WILL find itself having a disproportionately high return rate for this product.This is a niche market. This director has a hardcore following and attracts broad interest and attention even on the merit of purely his technical skills and sensationalism that surrounds his releases. People who WANT this film want to see it, own it in its entirety.We are not a prude market, we have prude authorities. This release will suffer severe curtailing of sales if Criterion/ifc have bent over backwards to political pressure. The Protestant version WILL be boycotted by American consumers en masse.

I've liked everything I've seen of Lars von Trier's work. I thought the "Kingdom" series was awesome, and I really enjoyed "Dogville". I also enjoy horror, and heard this was Lars von Trier's take on the genre. Personally, I enjoyed "Antichrist". It's visually and psychologically effective as an "avant garde" horror film. I've read some reviews calling it inherently misogynistic. I'm not sure I 100% agree with that, but I don't 100% disagree either. I feel like the intentions of the characters are vague enough that you can't make a blanket assumption that all of the motivations come from a misogynistic place. Both She and He have their individual neuroses and they act those neuroses out upon each other (and themselves) throughout the movie. I think von Trier's goal is for the individual viewer to determine for themselves how guilty or righteous or ambiguous either characters intentions are. And, as always for von Trier, some of what's there is there simply to provoke thoughts/emotions/reactions from his audience by being.... well, provocative.With all of that being said, a warning:This is REALLYREALLYREALLY not a good movie to watch if you're at all squeamish. It's not a good movie to watch if you're just looking for standard horror fare. I'm trying to be 100% spoiler free, so I'll just say: if you read a spoiler review, you'll hear that there are definitely some body horror moments that are...unique to this film. But if your sole goal is to see those moments, the rest of the movie won't be worth it.In my opinion, anyway.

Another masterpiece from Von Trier!!!

This is the most difficult opinion I have ever given, for while I give this film a 5-out-of-5 as a work of art, I believe that 97 out of 100 filmgoers will be strongly offended by some of the explicit images that are included in the visual narrative. Therefore I could recommend this film only to those 3 out of 100 who would agree with me that these images exist in the film not for their shock value but because they are necessary for an understanding of what these characters encounter under the influence of the dark side of Nature. Unless the viewer is compelled to watch, he or she cannot understand the pain (or the madness). Other than that, there is an extraordinary similarity here (in visuals other than the shocking ones alluded to above) in the director's observations of nature and those of Sartre in his fiction, a theme clearly enunciated in one of von Trier's other films "Melancholia". Whether or not the filmmaker is an "existentialist" or, from a different perspective, a Gnostic, it seems clear in "Antichrist" and "Melancholia" that von Trier is coming to the same conclusions about the Human Condition as the adherents of those philosophies. And for those of us who have come to those same conclusions, whether existentialist, Gnostic or otherwise, it is somehow comforting to know that we are not alone. On a less weighty note, it has to be said that Charlotte Gainsbourg has an extraordinary amount of courage

Es una gran película que nunca me cansó de ver, compra recomendada.

very good

A thought provoking movie - if one wishes to view a lot of lengthy dissertations about all the psycho symbolic aspects of this film I'd recommend zipping over to the Amazon.com listing for same, as there are over 60 reviews posted. My personal take on "Antichrist' is that it was a genuinely creepy and horrific viewing experience that not only left one with that disquieted sorta feeling after watching it, but also provided a few real shocker moments that literally had the hair standing up on the back of my neck (which is a 'good thing' for a horror movie, right?!). Leave it to the brooding 'Skandinavians' to create a view of nature that is so beautiful and menacing at the same time - director Lars von Trier has imagined, and convincingly depicted, a hellish world that is shaped by the unfortunate experiences of its' two main characters. In the plot - after the 'accidental' death of their young son - who manages to fall out a window while his parents are making love in the shower - the husband and wife deal with their grief & guilt over the loss in their own ways that spiral out of control in a setting of a summer cabin in the woods that used to be a haven of happiness for them. William Defoe is perfectly cast as the rather cold & creepy psychoanalyst husband who seems to sublimate his feelings thru his attempts to 'treat' his wife's (played by Charlotte Gainsbourg) much more palpable grief & guilt - a dynamic that evolves into some very shocking character developments. There is a fair amount of ambiguity, and what might even be considered gaping plot holes as the action plays out. Some might feel that this adds to the eerieness of the film while others may view it as 'sloppy' film-making - regardless the end result is viscerally effective. There is a distinctly dream-like (nightmare!) surrealistic quality to this movie that is one of it's strongest features. This is definitely one of those: "not for the squeamish" types of horror fliks with some very transgressive imagry - so be forwarned. Some reviewers have critiqued the film for being misogynistic but I felt it portrayed an 'equal opportunity' asexual statement about the potential dark side of human nature when pushed to extremes. As others have noted: 'love it or hate it, you likely won't soon forget it.'

Just buy it.Don’t show it to children.Great movie. Disturbing, graphic, including explicit sex scenes and genital mutilation, but that aside, it’s a superb movie about grief and loss. The cinematography is breathtaking and the acting is great.It’s a definite must have from me.

I never leave reviews but this product exceeded my expectations. This movie is absolutely perfect, but it was all of the awesome extras on the disk as well as the flip book that really made me happy. Shipped on time in perfect condition. 10/10