Lars Von Trier has been talking up his psychological thriller/horror film Antichrist since two years ago, at one point claiming to be too depressed to get it off the ground. But good news for those who've been curious to see what Von Trier would do with a genre film: Antichrist begins shooting this month, with Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg in the lead roles. As previously announced, they play a couple who retreat to a cabin in the woods after losing a child, and run into some "terrifying occurrences." Von Trier co-wrote the screenplay with Anders Thomas Jensen, a remarkably prolific Danish screenwriter who's had a hand in some of the most prominent films to come out of that country, including Brothers and The King is Alive. He also co-wrote the forthcoming The Duchess, starring Keira Knightley.I doubt, somehow, that Von Trier is going to come up with something that resembles what we think of as a horror film, or a psychological thriller. Anyone who saw his idea of a comedy knows what I'm talking about. I'm hit-and-miss on Von Trier in general -- loved Dancer in the Dark, viscerally disliked Dogville -- but always intrigued enough to keep watching. I can only hope the Antichrist will actually show up in Antichrist; Von Trier's take on Satan is definitely something I'd pay to see.
1. You mean all his movies aren't his idea of comedy? Well, maybe not most of the Golden Heart trilogy, but the rest?
I can't wait for this.
Posted at 9:23AM on Aug 13th 2008 by Christopher Campbell