An average movie

Well, as expected,  it was a really tough watch and it will probably haunt me for a few days,  that’s for sure. And,  that’s the whole thing with Lars von Trier.  Indeed, while most movies are made to entertain, he deliberately chooses to make movies that will make you feel terrible, while you are watching them and also afterwards. So, even though I admire the fact that he is an artist, completely going a different way than the rest of his colleagues, I believe that this approach is really antagonizing towards his audience. For example, let's take the prologue. It is indeed a gorgeous scene,  visually quite stunning, but also a big excuse explaining why the characters and the the viewers will experience all the terrible things that will come after. I mean, right from the start,  he, without any mercy,  thoroughly punishes these 2 characters : not only they turned off the sound of the baby phone,  but they left  the gate open,  the window open,  they didn't hear their baby at all, and of course,  they were having some wild sex when this tragedy took place. All this shows that he didn’t care much for them. After that, he put them through some massive psychological torture and, at some point, the torture becomes even physical resulting in a total nightmare. I won't even start about how misogynistic the whole thing was. And yet, the directing was pretty impressive and the two actors involved (Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg) gave some really strong performances as well. To conclude, even though I can’t say I really 'liked' this flick, I guess it might be worth a look but you should be well aware of its content before watching the damned thing.

6/10