About the film:
Today's in-Competition presentation of Antichrist is the occasion for the Danish director and veteran of many Cannes Festivals Lars von Trier to return. In 2000, Von Trier walked away with the Palme d'Or for Dancers in the Dark, and in 1996, he obtained the Grand Prix du Jury for Breaking the Waves. Europa garnered a Prix du Jury in 1991. To round out the history of the awards, Element of Crime (1984) was given the Grand Prix de la Commission Supérieure Technique.
"I would like to invite you for a tiny glimpse behind the curtain, glimpse into the dark world of my imagination: into the nature of my fears, into the nature of Antichrist," Von Trier dares us. A grieving couple retreat to ’Eden’, their isolated cabin in the woods, where they hope to repair their broken hearts and troubled marriage. But nature takes its course and things go from bad to worse."
"Two years ago, I suffered from a depression," continued Von Trier. "It was a new experience for me. Everything, no matter what, seemed unimportant, trivial. I couldn't work. Six months later, just as an exercise, I wrote a script… The work on the script did not follow my usual modus operandi. Scenes were added for no reason. Images were composed free of logic or dramatic thinking. They often came from dreams I was having at the time, or dreams I’d had earlier in my life. Once again the subject was “Nature”, but in a different and more direct way than before. In a more personal way… In any case, I can offer no excuse for Antichrist. Other than my absolute belief in the film – the most important film of my entire career!"
Press conference:
The Antichrist cast and crew were present to field questions from the journalists. Director Lars von Trier was flanked by actors Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg all talked about their film experience. Selected highlights.
Lars von Trier on the justification for making this film:
"I don't think I have to excuse myself… You are all my guests. It's not the other way around… I work for myself, and I've made this little film that I'm now rather fond of. I don't do it for you or for an audience. So I don't think I owe anybody an explanation."
Lars von Trier sur Tarkovsky, to whom "Antichrist" is dedicated:
"Tarkovsky, now, he's a real god. When I saw The Mirror for the first time on a small TV set, I was in ecstasy. If we talk about religion, this is a religious relationship. I've seen his films many, many times. I know he saw my very first film, and violently hated it, which I feel is an honest reaction. He's the generation before me. I feel related to him. I felt related to Bergman also – he didn't feel related to me… If you dedicate a film to a director, then nobody will say that you're stealing from him, so this was the easy way out."
Charlotte Gainsbourg on this experience:
"I think I was ready for anything. What was most difficult was not necessarily the scenes where there's sex, or where I'm in the nude. It was the scenes where there's a lot of emotion and suffering. Perhaps those were more difficult to handle. But there was no special preparation. One simply had to follow the guidance given by Lars… It was quite an experience, very intense. Not a lot of talking. Something that I won't live again that soon, and I knew that."
Willem Dafoe on working with Lars von Trier:
"A dream! Charlotte's right: we didn't talk a lot. It was just all doing. I enjoy his company. I enjoy his sense of humor. He's a great filmmaker… I'll tell you one thing real quick: he really doesn't allow any preparation or rehearsal before you shoot. You walk into a room, and you start shooting. Now, maybe that doesn't sound radical, but if you've got a ten-page dialogue scene, and he hasn't told you what the camera can do, or what you can do, or whether you should be naked or not… You basically make the scene on your feet, and then he reacts to it. There's only two actors, and you do that day after day, and you soon start to get very flexible, and very open to lots of impulses."
Lars von Trier on whether making the film was a therapy:
It's more the routine of making a film that is therapy: the routine of getting up every day, going to work… And that helps. I don't think that the subject – I don't think that could cure anybody. If you meant, to get rid of all these nasty things, I don't think so… I'm not trying to say any message. I have been much more clear and mathematical about other films, as logic has been a bigger part of it. This is more like a dream put into a film."
Lars von Trier on the disturbing scenes:
"Not to show it would be lying. This is a very dark dream about guilt and sex and stuff, and well, it came in naturally."