I hate it when directors try so hard to be artistic it comes off as pathetic attempt. Lars von Trier is one of the most superfluous directors of his time. His previous movies "Dogville" and "Manderlay" were basically theatrical plays. Filming a theatrical play like a movie is somehow supposed to be original and artistic?
This movie begins with black and white slow-motion shots of a couple making love when their baby crawls out of his crib and makes it to the window and finally falling to his demise. The shots are long in slow-motion topped with a classic opera score. After this, it cuts to the funeral procession. We see mother grieving and she is traumatized by what happened.
Then the couple decides to take a trip to the mountains to get away from it all and try to come to terms with what happened. The movie is very slow. This could have been easily a 40 minute TV episode. There are only 2 characters husband and wife; husband is trying to analyze the psychology of wife who blames herself for what happened.
Towards the ACt 3, the conclusion, we get a clearer picture of the psychology of the wife; she has been in that cabin before for a research; she studied the medieval concept of woman being evil. And the audience is left with a question of whether she actually let her baby die intentionally or if she lost her mind and only thinks she did. Either way, the movie is way too stretched out and takes forever to get to the point. Like Dogville and Manderlay, this could have stayed as a theatrical play. That's why I think Lars Von Trier should stop making movies and get into the theater. His artistic vision is not cut out for motion pictures.
This movie begins with black and white slow-motion shots of a couple making love when their baby crawls out of his crib and makes it to the window and finally falling to his demise. The shots are long in slow-motion topped with a classic opera score. After this, it cuts to the funeral procession. We see mother grieving and she is traumatized by what happened.
Then the couple decides to take a trip to the mountains to get away from it all and try to come to terms with what happened. The movie is very slow. This could have been easily a 40 minute TV episode. There are only 2 characters husband and wife; husband is trying to analyze the psychology of wife who blames herself for what happened.
Towards the ACt 3, the conclusion, we get a clearer picture of the psychology of the wife; she has been in that cabin before for a research; she studied the medieval concept of woman being evil. And the audience is left with a question of whether she actually let her baby die intentionally or if she lost her mind and only thinks she did. Either way, the movie is way too stretched out and takes forever to get to the point. Like Dogville and Manderlay, this could have stayed as a theatrical play. That's why I think Lars Von Trier should stop making movies and get into the theater. His artistic vision is not cut out for motion pictures.