Antichrist' takes on philosophical horror

    While many horror movies contain hidden, philosophical subtexts — often about gender or identity issues — their plots still tend toward the direction of tried-and-true tricks, like featuring knife-wielding killers and creepy ghost children as villains. Any deeper message is placed firmly on the back burner. Atypically, "Antichrist" brings the profound to the forefront; its horror derives directly from an examination of women, nature, sexuality and evil itself.
    The film is the latest piece of provocation from Danish writer/director Lars von Trier ("Dancer in the Dark," 2000). It stars Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg as a couple grieving after the death of their infant son. The husband (Dafoe) believes that cognitive psychology methods and scientific detachment can cure his wife of her severe depression and guilt. Although she is resistant at first, his wife (Gainsbourg) finally agrees to quit her medication and take a therapeutic journey to their cabin in the woods (ironically named "Eden") where she previously spent time with their son. When they finally arrive, the husband begins to notice that something is not quite right, and his wife undergoes a series of increasingly traumatic and violent changes in her behavior.
    Von Trier decides to frame this story in blunt allegorical terms. The characters do not have names, the wife has conveniently been doing research on witchcraft and the inherent evilness of women, and the animals they see in the woods are straight out of a child's puzzle from the film's prologue. Despite these clunky narrative devices, von Trier knows how to create memorable images and a mood of darkness and unease. The film's sound design is also quite effective, creating a world where every gust of wind might be a demonic whisper. The cinematography, at times disorienting, drains the world of color and gives the impression of decay and suffocation.
    With this atmosphere of dread, von Trier transforms a story of two people trying to hold their lives together into an exercise in philosophical horror. While the wife at first seems to respond to cognitive therapy positively, she soon starts rebelling against her husband's attempts to help her. Before long, he realizes that she believes that all women are evil by nature, and that the woods surrounding their cabin are where that evil breeds. She then begins to direct her grief and anger toward him and finally onto herself. Before the film is over, both of them have endured horrific acts of sexual violence.
    The film doesn't provide any easy answers as to how the story concludes, nor does it seem to feel the need to make its finale clear. This results in a somewhat muddled final section. "Antichrist" works most successfully through the sheer visceral impact of its imagery and mood rather than through any profound philosophical point.
    Much of the film's power comes from the actors themselves. Dafoe mostly just reacts to Gainsbourg's ever-changing wife, but he does it convincingly. Gainsbourg won best actress at the Cannes International Film Festival earlier this year for her performance, and it's one of the main reasons to see the film. Not only does she portray an astounding range of emotions, but her performance also requires a visceral physical element. She exhibits the trauma of a severely depressed woman and an angry, violent one, and does both with complete conviction. She also has the uncanny ability to make herself look either old and beaten or young and hopeful by simply changing her facial expression, which adds another dimension to the inner turmoil her character undergoes.
    The film is a fascinating visual experience with thought-provoking themes, but its ideas are somewhat underdeveloped as it favors the more sensational aspects of the story.
    "Antichrist" unintentionally joins the conventional horror movie camp, especially during some of its stranger moments, using graphic violence for the sake of provocation. But strong performances and the almost physical experience the film evokes make it worth watching. Just bring a strong stomach.