Movies | May 25, 2009 | 28 comments

Cannes 2009: Antichrist horror film gets X rating a no-no for U.S.

source: http://clipsfcwire.com/editorsblog/?p=332

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Antichrist, the latest offering from the controversial Danish director Lars Von Trier, elicited responses ranging from revulsion to applaud when it was shown to critics in Cannes. The film has almost Zero chance to be shown in it’s current version in most countries around the world. The current X Rating would limit the film to ‘Adult’ Movie theaters.

The film opens with a young child falling to his death through an open window while his parents have graphic sex nearby the window.
US actor Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg (daughter of British actress Jane Birkin and French singer Serge Gainsbourg) play the main characters.

The movie is filled with graphic violence and hard core pornography. Director Lars Von Trier created the movie while in a deep depression. Von Trier who won the ‘Palme d’Or in 2000 with Dancer in the Dark told the Cannes Film Festival Press that the film offers a ‘Glimps into the dark world of my imagination’

Reviews in Cannes called the film “Gross and gruesome” one Hollywood critic declared the film “One of the biggest debacles in Cannes Film Festival history” and compared it to the sinking of the Titanic.

The Movie is now headed for the UK where the BBFC has a history of allowing controversial arthouse films to be shown in its unedited version. Censors in the US say there is near Zero chance that the current version will make it to the US.

The possibility of cutting nearly 24 minutes from the film to make it pass a R-18 rating is not something that Von Trier is interested in.

The most offensive sequence, which had critics gasping in disbelief, sees Gainsbourg’s character performing an act of genital self-mutilation with a pair of scissors.

AntiChrist will open in the UK in June. Germany is still reviewing the film as is Sweden and Denmark (the home country of Von Trier)

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28 comments // Cannes 2009: Antichrist horror film gets X rating a no-no for U.S.

  • Steve_Stephan
    • 0
      Steve_Stephan  

    • Oh and people, there is no religious message or connection. This is straight up psycho-babble and there is no anti-christ in this movie or story-line outside of psycho woman who likes to have sex as a way to deal with her grief and then torture her husband. Any of the three Amateur Porn Stair Murders was better for storyline, but their choice in video just absolutely sucked. I wish Clive Barker would do one. It would be much better.

    • 2 years ago
  • Steve_Stephan
    • 0
      Steve_Stephan  

    • First off, let me say that I think that porn has it's place, as it is currently being used for just self-gratification and fantasy, and I found it interesting to merge that into mainstream cinema. I think that this movie wasn't the proper medium to explore it. It was disgusting. It was like watching a writer and director's visual version of a self-fulfilled fantasy of what he would like to carry out against someone or evidence against some undescovered crime. Movies like this remind me why they never show a close-up of a person deficating on a toilet or just dropping mud. Poor choice for porn integration.

    • 2 years ago
  • Anyother
  • Vierotchka
  • l1ttlebear
  • diabolical44
  • GodsnLiberals
  • Denica_Cassandra
  • escarondito
  • kitteneater
  • FallenMorgan
  • lucidstone
    • 0
      lucidstone  

    • I'll pass, religious based fiction never really holds much interest for me.

      Haha, i just realized the inherent redundancy in saying "religious based fiction" =)

    • 3 years ago
  • yesindeed
  • malathion
  • Betico
  • timetide
  • MissAmanda
    • 0
      MissAmanda  

    • as cool and controversial as it sounds, it's rated X for some things that I don't really want to watch someone do, real or staged...kinda gross...i think people want to see it b/c they are being told they can't, not because they are even interested in the content...

      though I think it should be allowed to be purchased on DVD or viewed at small theatres by people who are into that kind of stuff...

    • 3 years ago
  • krush_productions
  • Denica_Cassandra
  • trelk
    • 0
      trelk  

    • brown bunny was rated x and i saw it at a theatre in tampa. there is a scene in the piano teacher that shows the main character watching a porno with penetration and i saw that at a theatre also in tampa. tampa isn't exactly the market that l.a. or new york is so i am pretty confident that this film will get released in most big cities.

    • 3 years ago
  • ClipsFC
  • UWAZell
  • lucidstone
  • ClipsFC
    • 0
      ClipsFC  

    • @Jlichman. Great response. I agree with IFC part. I can send you the releases from the distributor in email if you like since I rather not post them in public. They specify specific scenes - frame-length-takes etc that will have to be deleted for US distribution. Unfortunately these kind of 'hypes' tend to help box office more than a good debate on censorship. A German distributor has already made plans with a .de large web property (don't want to give them free adverts) to feature the movie for a fee.
      I remember 'Caligula' back in the late 90's - that movie was eventually released with an X rating and was shown in major movie theaters in the US. (the porn in that movie made even me blush) Personally I like Von Trier's work. It's dark, vibrant and honest.

    • 3 years ago
  • cybexg
    • 0
      cybexg  
    • ClipsFC:

      Me too!!!! It is very rare for me to find a film that is dark enough for my taste (when the subject matter is supposed to be dark).

      I'll be contacting you for the information.

    • 3 years ago
  • MikefromhisG1
    • 0
      MikefromhisG1  

    • ML, I agree. If it was such a nightmare it would get no print, er, screen. Articles like this just prompt me to Google it later on. Mental NetFlix.

    • 3 years ago
  • MirrorLake
  • jlichman
    • 0
      jlichman  
    • Image

    • to be fair, IFC has the US rights for this film.

      that means guaranteed play at their New York theater followed by an On-Demand release, and then DVD. having an X-Rating cuts out having any posters, trailers or commercial material shown in big name theaters (regal, loews, chinese mann).

      which is why you'll see it instead at smaller, "arthouse" theaters. this isn't surprising in the least when taking von trier's catalog and fans into account.

      It's very likely when released, it'll simply be unrated.

    • 3 years ago
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