The Rest of the World is F%^$ed Up

"Movies can use transgressive topics and imagery toward great artistic resonance. They can also just use them for pure shock/novelty/boundary-pushing."

Every few years, some artistic work comes under attack by the public for pushing boundaries a bit too far. Some famous works of art or exhibitions come to mind. Music is also another frequent method of artistic expression that frequently looks to push the boundaries. So it is no surprise that movies attempt to do the same. This isn't a new phenomenon in cinema, but something tells me we have turned some awful corner.

Two recent movies were released that were met with a high level of controversy. Not interested in seeing either, I read the plot synopsis to see what all the fuss was about. On both occasions, I was horrified. I have included the SAFE plot synopsis of each. Click the link to read the plot summary at your own risk.

Antichrist

This enormously controversial psychodrama-cum-horror film from Danish enfant terrible Lars von Trier charts the degeneration of a marriage into apocalyptic violence, chaos, and insanity following an unthinkable domestic tragedy. The film opens with a prologue. While they make love in their apartment on a snowy winter afternoon, a husband and wife known only as "He" and "She" (Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg) fail to keep an eye on their young toddler. In a horrific turn of events, the child wanders over to an open window, entranced by the snow cascading down, and falls two stories to his death. Von Trier then divides the remainder of the film into four chapters, beginning with "Grief." In that segment, the woman finishes a month's hospitalization, and accuses her husband of apathy over the child's death, but proceeds to take responsibility for it herself; he calmly and rationally guides her through this process. In the second segment, "Pain," she confesses to him that she's most terrified of their property in the forest, because she spent time with her son there over the preceding summer; as a form of therapy, he takes her to that locale on a wilderness retreat. She appears to grow more calm and rational over their first days in that milieu. Yet the recovery, it seems, was only illusory, and the subsequent two chapters, "Despair (Gynocide)" and "The Three Beggars," depict the woman's shocking and abrupt regression into unbridled insanity, culminating with grotesque sexual violence against herself, gruesome acts of destruction against her husband, and an apocalyptic climax.

A Serbian Film

Milos, a retired porn star, leads a normal family life with his wife Maria and six-year old son Petar in tumultuous Serbia, trying to make ends meet. A sudden call from his former colleague Layla will change everything. Aware of his financial problems, Layla introduces Milos to Vukmir - a mysterious, menacing and politically powerful figure in the pornographic business. A leading role in Vukmir's production will provide financial support to Milos and his family for the rest of their lives. A contract insists on his absolute unawareness of a script they will shoot. From then on, Milos is drawn into a maelstrom of unbelievable cruelty and mayhem devised by his employer, "the director" of his destiny. Vukmir and his cohorts will stop at nothing to complete his vision. In order to escape the living cinematic hell he's put into, and save his family's life, Milos will have to sacrifice everything - his pride, his morality, his sanity, and maybe even his own life.

This week in Cannes, another movie premiered with clear intention to shock it's audience.

The Skin I Live In

The film, which stars Antonio Banderas and budding actress Spanish actress Elena Anaya, focuses on a mad but brilliant surgeon (Banderas) who kidnaps a man who raped his daughter. The doctor's daughter killed herself from the grief and it drives him to take very drastic measures. This is where it gets complicated and disturbing. Banderas then gives the rapist a sex change and transplants his deceased daughter's face onto his body. He later has sex with the man he has brutally experimented on and turned into a woman. The movie also contained several disturbing rape scenes and nudity.

That half the the theater walked out (AT CANNES!!!) should tell you something. That the other half who stayed gave the director a 5-minute standing ovation should tell you more. This is getting out of control. What are these people thinking? What message requires a plot in which you rape a transgender, plastic surgery created, image of your own dead daughter. How do people even think of this crap?

The quote at the top is from Alison Willmore in reviewing A Serbian Film. She is 100% right when she says that movie falls into the latter category - as do the other examples above. Good luck as the favorite to win the Palme d'or, the highest honor at Cannes.