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…
I couldn’t help but think of Polanski and a little of Kubrick‘s The Shining with today’s first glimpse into Antichrist. It comes across as distinctly “Von Trier”, due to the technical style he employs with the use of handheld shots and natural lighting, but there are some complicated shots involved, and special effects work (no Donkeys were killed on set) that I suspect came from sources that go beyond literature and includes paintings, and perhaps ideas from the cited filmmakers above.
Written by Anders Thomas Jensen and von Trier, based on the theory that it was Satan, not God, who created the world, the trailer features a Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg who take the route that Jack and Wendy Torrance took – isolation from society bringis out the worst in people. The official short synopsis tells us that the marriage has reached the breaking point but doesn’t detail the key story element: the death of a child.
Look for more hoopla from Cannes in a month from now.
