Rate-a-Trailer: Lars Von Trier’s Antichrist

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If the nerdy film reports from Cannes are true, then filmmaker Lars Von Trier (who might have given you motion sickness with his 2000 flick, Dancer in the Dark… or maybe that was just us) is kind of a dick; indieWIRE quotes him as saying, “I am the best film director in the world… All the others are overrated, so that’s quite simple… I just met Scorsese [at the hotel] and I think it’s quite easy for all of you educated people [to see] where most of these things come from… This knowledge I have that I am the best director, I see it as true. I am sure other directors may feel the same, [but] maybe they dont say it. I am not sure I am. I just think I am.” So there’s that.

And then there’s the bone-chillingly awesome trailer for his new horror film Antichrist, which stars Willem Defoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg. We find ourselves conflicted. We don’t want to like it (allegedly there’s some pretty scary genital mutilation and torture in the film), but we feel compelled to see it. At the same press conference Von Trier explained that Antichrist — which centers on a couple who have just lost their son — was the result of an intense two year period of depression, and served as a therapeutic exercise.

As our tipster Sara said, “I haven’t been this curious about an eff’d up Cannes film since Irreversible made tons of people faint/sick.” Your thoughts?