Hecklers, Women vs. Men, Depression and Horror: Von Trier “Appears” at NYFF

The director continued propagating his provocateur image facetiously by questioning Lim, “You didn’t notice any walkouts?  Then I have failed.”  A few members of the audience yelled that they had seen a few leave or that they had wanted to leave were it not for the professional obligation.  Von Trier also took the opportunity to comment on some parts of “Antichrist” he was not satisfied with.  He was mostly happy with the captivating stylized slow motion sequences but had second thoughts on the sheen with which the rest of the film was shot.  These shots, he said, “should have been filmed in something closer to the spare dogme style he developed in the 1990s.”  He said that he was uncomfortable with the ease with which “Antichrist” can be called one of his most cinematic works.  Another oversight in the filmmaking had to do with the script.  When asked about the Biblical references in the film and their significance to the overall story, von Trier conceded, “Normally, I would have gone through the script and taken all that shit out…I’m sorry about the Eden stuff.  It came up and I let it be.”  He continued, “If it has to do with religion, it’s to say that there is no God.”

On the subject of Dafoe’s casting, von Trier said that he was in a rough spot casting the role of the man when Dafoe, a good friend, emailed him asking if the director had a role for him.  Von Trier was ecstatic to give him the role.  When asked if he thought the audience should feel sympathy for Dafoe’s character, von Trier said that he felt he put some of his own understandings of the world onto both characters.  “I understand him.  I feel like an idiot like him sometimes.”  Responding to a question from a woman who felt maybe Gainsbourg’s character was meant to be seen as a bad mother, von Trier exclaimed, “You should have seen my mother!” 

And later, responding to a question about an unusual credit, Heidi Laura for her research on “misogyny,” von Trier said that this research was just used for the quotations that Gainsbourg’s character researches for her thesis on the topic.  Subtly responding to a common critique of his films, he joked, “I don’t think the film has much to do with whether women are good or not.  I believe women are as bad as men.”  Beyond “Antichrist,” von Trier says that he presumes there must be a third film in his “U.S.A.” trilogy, but that the idea has not yet come to him.  “When I have the idea, I suppose I will make it.”