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Tag Archives: Willem Dafoe

Antichrist

16 Monday May 2016

Posted by vinnieh in Movie Reviews

≈ 46 Comments

Tags

2000's, Antichrist, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Horror, Lars Von Trier, Willem Dafoe

Film Title

Antichrist

Director

Lars Von Trier

Starring

  • Willem Dafoe as He
  • Charlotte Gainsbourg as She

To say that the movies of Lars Von Trier are divisive and an acquired taste is a major understatement, and with Antichrist, it is no exception. Visceral and horrifying, yet often meandering and somewhat overloaded by too many ideas, Antichrist is certainly memorable for the intense performances, grisly content and atmosphere, yet is muddled and at times incoherent. It’s safe to say that this offering from Von Trier will provoke wildly differently opinions, including the one I will give.

An unnamed couple, only identified in the credits as He and She, open the movie by making love in the shower. Antichrist PosterTragically, while in the throes of passion, their toddler son manages to climb up to an open window and falls to his death. The woman goes into a deep depression and blames herself for her son’s death, while the husband, who is a therapist, stifles his grief by analyzing his wife’s condition and attempting to treat her with psychotherapy. He tries to get her to talk about her fears and make them face them in order to carry on. One of her fears is the woods, specifically those near a cabin known as Eden, that she and her son visited in the summer past while she worked on a research paper centred on gynocide and society’s oppression of women. Her husband who thinks he can do better than other doctors in treating his wife and decides to take her to Eden to help her face what she is most afraid of. Antichrist He and SheBut going to Eden may have not been the best idea as the surrounding woods and nature itself seem ready for them. Soon strange and alarming visions for the husband and the manic behaviour of the wife, who believes that everything has turned evil, reach a fever pitch and chaos reigns for the both of them.

Going into Antichrist, I knew from watching other movies from Lars Von Trier, that it wasn’t going to be the most comfortable or heartwarming movie to watch. And I was right because Antichrist is a disturbing and stomach churning watch to say the very least. From what I’ve read, Von Trier was suffering from depression around the time of making the film and that potent emotion of darkness and desolation bleeds into a lot of frames within the movie. I must give him kudos for the way he crafts the unusual atmosphere and the way he employs striking( yet often unforgettably dark) images, in a way that reminded me of paintings. EdenThe cinematography can’t be praised highly enough, particularly in the scenes at Eden where the surrounding forest and forces of nature are made to resemble something out of an adult Grimm’s fairy tale. Yet for all these positives within the film, there are a number of things that are detrimental to it. Firstly, while I thought that some of the themes examined(such as extreme grief, evil and human nature gone awry) where potent and well executed, many others get lost in the mix and seem to appear then disappear without so much as an explanation. The violence throughout which is no doubt where many find a point of contention, is horrific and some of the most sickening torture and mutilation I’ve ever seen committed to film. But while they are unforgettable, the feeling overall is depraved and borders on gratuitous and utterly revolting. Willem Dafoe AntichristI wouldn’t say it is torture porn because the violence does have some purpose as the unnamed couple unravel and savagely turn on each other. But then the violence is thrown at us left, right and centre and the whole set up falls apart due to Von Trier not knowing when to stop. An ominous soundscape forms a terrifying backbone to the film that brings out the horror, despite Antichrist as a film not knowing what it quite wants to be and suffering because of it.

On thing that can’t be criticized in Antichrist is the willingness of the two main stars to surrender themselves to the extreme material. Both Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg turn in daring and brave performances, considering some of the things that the film calls for them to do. Willem Dafoe excellently portrays the stoic, closed of man who suppresses his own grief and puts it off, ultimately leading to an immense cauldron of emotions threatening to bubble over. Charlotte Gainsbourg AntichristCharlotte Gainsbourg is phenomenal in her part; embodying the suffocating grief, guilt and trauma of the character, she both startles and frightens with an intensely visceral performance that is hard to forget. The two actors are really the only people in the movie and boy do they deliver work that is provocative and memorable. It must have been hard performing in this movie, due to the extreme content and situations, but both stars get so in touch with the characters that it’s hard to see any nerves and thankfully their acting papers over some of the cracks in the film.

To summarise my thoughts on the controversial and experimental Antichrist, I’ll say that it is a flawed movie to be sure, but due to the performances from the leads and the visuals, it sure as hell made a disquieting impact on me, despite some of my ambivalence. Like of all of Von Trier’s work, Antichrist will cause discussion and differing opinions a plenty.

Body of Evidence

01 Sunday Mar 2015

Posted by vinnieh in Movie Reviews

≈ 37 Comments

Tags

1990's, Anne Archer, Body of Evidence, Erotic Thriller, Jürgen Prochnow, Joe Mantegna, Julianne Moore, Madonna, Thriller, Uli Edel, Willem Dafoe

Film Title

Body of Evidence

Director

Uli Edel

Starring

  • Madonna as Rebecca Carlson
  • Willem Dafoe as Frank Dulaney
  • Joe Mantegna as Robert Garrett
  • Anne Archer as Joanne Braslow
  • Julianne Moore as Sharon Dulaney
  • Jürgen Prochnow as Dr Alan Paley

It was meant to be an erotic thriller with an added dash of courtroom drama but from watching the critically derided box office bomb that is Body of Evidence, it becomes abundantly clear that is neither erotic or thrilling. With Madonna in a weak performance and the talents of good actors wasted, Body of Evidence represents what can only be described as a train wreck of a film.

In Portland, Oregon, a wealthy old man by the name of Andrew Marsh has been found dead after suffering a fatal heart attack while restrained to his bed with handcuffs. At the time of death he was watching a home movie and the police believe that the girl in the film, Rebecca Carlson, a beautiful art gallery owner and Andrew’s much younger lover is connected in some way to the death of him. Rebecca is arrested and put on trial, where her adventurous and unusual sex life is brought up as a means for her to kill her elderly lover. Representing her is Frank Dulaney, who tries everything he can to clear Rebecca’s name and counteract everything said by the opposition of Robert Garrett, the ambitious defense attorney on the trial. Garrett believes that Rebecca used her seductive charms and vigorous bedroom activities to murder Andrew, as the man had a debilitating heart condition and was set to leave his young lover $8 million in the event of his death.Body of Evidence Movie Poster Yet as the trial goes on, the married Frank becomes increasingly entranced by Rebecca and throws professionalism out the window to pursue a torrid and unusual love affair with his client. Rebecca dominates Frank with her sadomasochistic tendencies in the bedroom and firmly sets herself up as the one in charge in the strange game of pleasure and pain that she plays. But sooner or later, Frank is left questioning whether or not this seductive woman was capable of cold-blooded murder with the use of her more than sensual body and is he really defending as well as sleeping with an avaricious lust murderer?

The whole set up of Body of Evidence just seems so ridiculous and one can’t take it seriously. The film itself tries to be serious in the court room scenes and surprising with attempted red herrings but it just ends up being completely laughable. Director Uli Edel tries to take the material seriously and does give the movie some good visuals such as billowing MTV see through curtains, candles flickering and sinister shadows, but even that can’t save this movie from inevitable disaster. The score manages to give the film some of the eroticism it sorely lacks with twinkling percussion and seductive guitar forming the backbone. Those two points about the visuals and the music are two of the only things that I can think of that can be praised in this weak film. Marketed as an erotic thriller, Body of Evidence falls short in both departments. The sex scenes between Rebecca and Frank are supposed to be eye-opening and titillating, with the femme fatale Rebecca introducing her dark world of pain and pleasure to the wide-eyed Frank, but the scenes( including the use of candle wax, restraints and an unusual encounter in a parking lot) end up feeling boring and not all erotic in the slightest. The writer tries to incorporate thrills into the story and make us guess whether Rebecca is guilty or not, but with the weak script we really don’t end up caring about whether Rebecca committed the crime.

Chief among the problems of Body of Evidence is the decision to cast pop superstar Madonna in the lead role. She’s never going to go down as the best actress in history, but at least in past movies such as Desperately Seeking Susan and A League of Their Own she was watchable enough and wasn’t a complete disaster. Madonna Body of EvidenceHere her delivery of lines is stilted and unconvincing as her character is accused of using her sex life to kill her old lover. Everyone knows that Madonna can be sexy( hell if anyone knows that sex sells, it has to be Madonna), but that is all she brings to the part and nothing else. Willem Dafoe is wasted as Rebecca’s lawyer Frank, who enters into an illicit relationship with her. Joe Mantegna and Anne Archer don’t fare much better in their poorly written roles as district attorney and secretary for the deceased. And Julianne Moore is just wasted here as Frank’s wronged wife and it really is a shame to see one of my favourite actresses having to slum it with this weak film. Even an appearance from Jürgen Prochnow as an unreliable witness in the case can’t bring anything that great to this mess of a movie.

Unconvincing and not remotely as thrilling or sexy as it wanted to be, Body of Evidence is a weak film that seemed destined for the critical drubbing it received and with good reason.

 

 

 

 

Wild At Heart

13 Saturday Apr 2013

Posted by vinnieh in Movie Reviews

≈ 12 Comments

Tags

1990's, David Lynch, Diane Ladd, Drama, Grace Zabriskie, Harry Dean Stanton, Isabella Rossellini, Laura Dern, Nicolas Cage, Road Movie, Surreal, Wild At Heart, Willem Dafoe

Film Title

Wild At Heart

Director

David Lynch

Cast

  • Nicolas Cage as Sailor Ripley
  • Laura Dern as Lula Fortune
  • Diane Ladd as Marietta Fortune
  • Willem Dafoe as Bobby Peru
  • Harry Dean Stanton as Johnnie Farragut
  • J.E. Freeman as Marcellus Santos
  • Isabella Rossellini as Perdita Durango
  • Grace Zabriskie as Juana Durango

Wild At Heart is a surreal, dark and strange road movie directed by David Lynch. Focusing on the intense courtship between a former prisoSailor Ripley and Lula Fortunener and his girlfriend on a deeply weird road trip across America, it is essential viewing for fans of the surreal and Lynch in general.

Sailor Ripley is a rebellious, Elvis loving guy, who is sent down for brutally killing a man with his own bare hands. He is in a raw relationship with the sensual Lula Fortune, who is constantly bombarded by her scary and needy mother, Marietta to end the romance. Disobeying her mother’s orders, Lula picks Sailor up after he is released and together they embark upon a sex-fueled, sinister road trip across many states. All the while, the manipulative and unhinged Marietta has sent a private detective to find them, but also cunningly enlisted the services of a gangster friend as she wants Sailor dead. This signals the cue for the usual Lynchian staples of dreams and surrealism, and also many homages to Elvis and The Wizard of Oz as Sailor and Lula travel down their own sinister yellow brick road and meet many creepy and deranged characters along the way.

Though it is a film that will undeniably divide viewer opinion, the performances from the cast are excellent. Nicolas Cage, clad in a seriously cool snake-skin jacket, embodies the violent, unpredictable lifestyle of Sailor. Laura Dern shows a complex young girl who is confused and sexy, sometimes at the same time. The two actors keep the audience engaged as we watch the strange events unravel around them as they travel. Heading the supporting cast is Dern’s real-life mother Diane Ladd, who creates an Marietta Fortuneunforgettably unstable and resentful  matriarch who surely ranks as one of the mothers from hell in the cinematic archives. Whether calmly plotting Sailor’s demise, painting lipstick all over her face or completely flying off the handle at her daughter’s defiance, she is certainly a startlingly original character. The always interesting Harry Dean Stanton is on scene stealing form as a most unlucky private investigator, drawn into this twisted mess Willem Dafoe also contributes creepiness to the narrative as a scary criminal, who has the strangest teeth I’ve ever seen on film. They are used perfectly to show a sinister side when he smiles with a snake-like glee. Also watch out for a sultry cameo from Isabella Rossellini as the bleach blonde getaway driver for criminals and a creepy performance by Lynch regular Grace Zabriskie as her crazed, murdering sister Juana.

Music plays an integral part to the film, cutting it to old school rock that the two lovers are often seen listening to or discussing. The use of the song Wicked Game is effective as the lovers drive at night and see eerie visions as the melancholy tune plays. Although the numerous references to Oz, especially in terms of visual style, may put off viewers, they contribute an almost darkly, childlike undercurrent showing how supernatural and creepy the road trip has become for the fleeing duo.

All in all, Wild At Heart is not a film for everyone’s taste, mainly because of graphic violence and macabre atmosphere. But if you relish strange, symbol-laden films populated by weird characters and striking visuals, Wild At Heart may just be the film for you.

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