Bubble, Bubble, Toil And Trouble (Art Won't Lie)

"It has a wild, witchy woman, it has self-inflicted female genital mutilation, it even has an official 'misogyny researcher' listed in the closing credits. Yes indeed: that old master-provocateur Lars von Trier has done it again with Antichrist, currently being described as one of the most vicious movies ever made. It was crowned at this year's Cannes Film Festival with an 'anti-prize' for being 'the most misogynist movie from the self-proclaimed biggest director in the world'. British audiences can now make up their own minds, with the film released here this weekend. The Cannes jury, which bestowed the award, accused Von Trier of suggesting that 'woman should be burnt at the stake so that man can finally stand up.'

Von Trier is an easy target for charges of political incorrectness, but his are clever, complicated characters who demand our attention. In Antichrist, Gainsbourg, an unconventionally beautiful actress in her late thirties, is writing a PhD thesis on witchcraft."

-- Sheila Johnston, on a film she acknowledges takes women seriously - just as this blog does - which, of course, calls for a perspective that doesn't fetishize them to the point of ignoring their less savory sides, in The Independent.