Antichrist is a great film. Capital G Great even, perhaps. I loved it, and I can’t wait to finally get a chance to write my review of it (hopefully I can catch up on Fantastic Fest reviews this weekend). I was not a huge Lars von Trier fan before – I liked some of his work, was endlessly irritated by other films of his – but Antichrist is the kind of movie that has sold me on von Trier’s peculiar genius, and has made me excited for whatever comes next.
And whatever comes next sounds like it might be just as delightfully weird as Antichrist. a ‘psychological disaster film’ called Planet Melancholia. The details are limited, as is the budget (about 7.4 million dollars), but von Trier promises ‘No more happy endings!’, as if he’s ever been accused of such a thing.
Antichrist has gained notoriety for some particularly brutal moments dealing with genitalia, but Planet Melancholia‘s producer Peter Aalbaek Jensen says not to expect a repeat of that in the new film. Instead, he thinks the movie will be “romantic, in a Lord
Byron sort of way.” But like Antichrist, which is probably the most beautiful movie of 2009, Planet Melancholia will mix Dogme-style handheld camerawork with grander, more cinematic imagery. I can’t wait to see what it all turns out to be.