Word: halfness
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...even suggests—a measure of forward-motion that would constitute a remotely critical synthesis for all the bizarre, absurd, or utterly inane things that manage to find their way into the 100 minutes that comprise it. Instead, Von Trier seems satisfied with a set of auteuristic half-measures intended to flummox or thwart critical impingement. When Willem Dafoe’s unnamed therapist-husband character exclaims toward the end of his wife’s treatment, “You don’t have to understand me, just trust me!” it may as well...
...hawk. It’s enough to believe that Von Trier is playing an enormous joke on his audience when Gainsbourg remarks grinningly to her husband, “Dreams are of no interest to modern psychology. Freud is dead, isn’t he?” A half hour of ejaculated blood and severed female anatomy later, “Antichrist” has done as much as show that if Freud isn’t dead, he’s certainly fair game for some extreme and rather thickheaded interpretations...
...first half of the film is essentially a horror film’s buildup toward dramatic tension, and it’s done effectively: eerily lit time-lapse nature footage punctuated by waves of white noise and color-saturated, slow-motion shots create a nightmarish atmosphere for the carnage to unfold in. The alternation between handheld and dollied camera is seamless, and Von Trier even experiments with lenses in the former case, making for an especially distorted register in some of the film’s most intense moments. But finding the natural extreme of a career that counts...
...prime examples of this. “Pilgrim” starts with an upbeat, swing-feel guitar riff that is soon joined by percussion. “She’s got hands that go inside my mind,” Stockdale moans. The quick pace suddenly slows to half as fast, adding to an overall blues style maintained throughout the track...
...without growing stale. Six-minute epic “In the Castle” contains interspersed fast and slow tempos and a very classic rock feel. Starting off with nearly 40 seconds of silence, the track begins with slow, calm, and collected vocals. This is quickly joined by powerful half-note guitar chords and a guitar lick that leads into a faster tempo and repeat of the verse. With lead singer Stockdale’s passionate wail and the grandeur and straightforwardness of the melody, it sounds something like Led Zeppelin with a more metallic edge...