200
Words is a daily burst of ideas, thoughts, or impressions on media,
film, and filmmaking. The goal is nothing more or less than
conversation.


11/29/09


…are simply not enough- the film is the kind that will give you as much as you are willing to take. I left the theater (…more accurately, the porno cave. Details another time.) as bewildered as one would expect after such a mindfuck, but with a strong idea what the mindfuck might be saying.

I’m very struck by the idea of the film as the “birth” of an Antichrist, in this case He.

Reading the film this way creates an extremely strange but satisfying arc for Dafoe’s character as he journeys from unwitting evil to fully-aware satanic figure. His influence and analyzing early in the film retroactively become terrifying and manipulative. If one could consider She his target, breaking in and out of his spell, her actions become more of a quest to stop him with iconic and biblical methods- a paradoxical intention to simultaneously kill him and enlighten him. 


The fox and his manifesto suddenly become a moment of epiphany and inspiration.

The last moments become truly frightening. As He stands with a look tinged vaguely with triumph on a mountain being climbed by a thousand faceless individuals, we can tremble for having witnessed the creation of the Antichrist.

Take a similar reading from the film? Tell me on the MESSAGE BOARD.
Previous                           
Next