Antichrist added to Edinburgh film bill

Danish director Lars von Trier's new film Antichrist, which drew howls of outrage at the recent Cannes film festival, has been added to the bill at the Edinburgh International Film Festival in a surprise last-minute twist.
 
Starring the Anglo-French actress Charlotte Gainsbourg opposite Willem Dafoe, Antichrist tells the story of a couple who, overcome by grief and guilt at the death of their child, decide to retreat to a cabin in the woods in an effort to deal with their emotions. What follows is anything but therapeutic when Gainsbourg's character (pictured above) is revealed to be a psychotic maniac, hell-bent on inflicting as much pain on herself and her husband as she can - taking a drill to her husband's leg and a pair of scissors to her own clitoris.

None of this has put off Edinburgh's organisers, who have scheduled the film to be shown to the press on June 22 before its public screening on June 24. It has been awarded an 18 certificate by the BBFC and will be released without any cuts to the original version.
 
Festival promoters were tight-lipped as to whether or not Gainsbourg, who won best actress at Cannes, will attend the Scottish festival, but it is unlikely that von Trier will put in an appearance due to a reported fear of flying.
 
Speaking recently to the Times, the director maintained that he did not make Antichrist merely to shock people. "If the film is shocking that is a side-effect," he said. "It was technically fun to play around with but it certainly wasn't the most important thing to me. In my opinion a film can never be too graphic or shocking. I was not expecting the critical reaction in Cannes but I suppose that was naive of me." ·