I've watched most of the press conferences at the Cannes Film Festival, but I don't think any of them are quite as engaging as the Antichrist one with Lars von Trier and his (largely ignored) cast of Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg. It kicks off to a bad start—or an intriguing one, depending on how you look at it—when a reporter demands for the director to explain and justify his film.
What a stupid and inane request that is, but it looked like this particular reporter was genuinely upset with what he saw on film. I can't blame him given the "horror" film's reportedly disturbing and controversial content, but for a journalist to say that a filmmaker is obligated to explain his film just because it's at Cannes is six kinds of ludicrous. Watch here how a stammering but good-humored Lars von Trier dodges it and other similar questions.
It's interesting to see so many journalists there try to wrest an elucidation from him, when 1) he already said he doesn't want to with that first question, and 2) it's something that should never be asked. I know some filmmakers have no problem talking about their intentions at length, bless them, but some prefer to say their piece from only within the screen. It's awkward when a journalist asks for an explanation and the filmmaker feels cornered by it. Most press folks I've encountered at junkets have the sense to add a "You don't have to answer if you don't want to," however, and not demand an answer. I usually try not to ask in the first place, perhaps because I look at it from a film critic's point of view rather than a journalist's: if I didn't get it by watching the movie, then I just didn't get it. I shouldn't have to rope the filmmaker into explaining it to me. I understand that many feel differently because they have a responsibility to inform their readers. Personally, it just strikes me as dishonest.
But man, I digress. Back to the film... It was loudly booed when it ended, so that should give you an impression of the critical overview. Though lest we forget that this is a Lars von Trier film. His films are typically divisive to begin with, and this one is going to be more so just by nature of what it is. If anything, the hostile reaction is making me even more excited for it. That's not to say the film is not without its share of praises, of course.
"Lars von Trier cuts a big fat art-film fart with Antichrist. As if deliberately courting critical abuse, the Danish bad boy densely packs this theological-psychological horror opus with grotesque, self-consciously provocative images that might have impressed even Hieronymus Bosch, as the director pursues personal demons of sexual, religious and esoteric bodily harm, as well as feelings about women that must be a comfort to those closest to him." - Todd McCarthy, Variety
"This may be the least artistically successful film von Trier has ever made. As such, commercial prospects appear slim, though many of the auteur's most ardent fans will want to see the film anyway. And they should." - Peter Brunette, The Hollywood Reporter
"Whether this is a bad, good or great film is entirely beside the point. It is an audacious spit in the eye of society. [...] It's been reported that he suffered from depression during and after the film. You can tell. This is the most despairing film I've ever have seen." - Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
"I would be lying if I didn’t admit that this impossible movie kept me hooked from start to finish." - Manohla Dargis, The NY Times
"I’m pretty sure I kind of despised your new movie, Antichrist, but that doesn’t remotely matter. Thank you. Thank you for having the guts to make something as insane and offensive and wholly uncompromising as this. Thank you for not caring whether people laugh at you, and for smacking the international press corps with a much-needed dose of cognitive dissonance. Most of all, thank you for lighting a bomb underneath the perfectly respectable, largely forgettable efforts of your fellow Competition entries. You may have whiffed huge this time, but movies like yours are what the Festival de Cannes should ideally be about." - Mike D'Angelo, The A.V. Club
"Antichrist is the most original and thought-provoking work von Trier has done since Breaking the Waves. That said, I might entirely change my mind tomorrow — yet another reason why this film is remarkable." - David Bourgeois, Movieline
"Who knows whether it's good or bad (although some of the ever-literal US critics have already armed their battlements); Lars Von Trier is daring to engage with film form on a level that few of his peers could even attempt." - Damon Wise, Empire Magazine
