Most notably, perhaps, the film also includes sight of a character mutilating her own genitals with a pair of scissors.
These include a sequence in which a character’s ankle is drilled and where his genitals are beaten and ejaculate blood. Examples include L’Empire Des Sens, 9 Songs, Shortbus and Lars von Trier's earlier film, The Idiots where it is clear that the purpose of the work and the individual images in question are not there simply to arouse viewers but to illustrate characters, relationships and themes.Īntichrist features several strong and gory horror images. It was also noted that the BBFC had permitted comparable explicit images in a number of previous features at the 18 level. The main characters’ relationship is depicted throughout in a graphic and unflinching fashion, both psychologically and physically.
They were read by examiners as illustrations of the central character’s relationships and the images were designed to explore the film's themes of closeness, loss, sex and betrayal. The brief images of explicit real sex (sight of a penis penetrating a vagina during a consensual sex scene and sight of the man's penis being masturbated to climax) were felt to be exceptionally justified. Though the images are strong it was clear throughout that Antichrist was not a 'sex work' but rather a serious drama exploring issues such as grief, loss, guilt and fear. A 'sex work' is defined as a work whose 'primary purpose is sexual arousal or stimulation'. At the 18 category, the BBFC's Guidelines state that the more explicit images of sexual activity are unlikely to be permitted unless they can be exceptionally justified by context and the work is not a 'sex work'. The strong real sex includes images of genital contact and unsimulated penetration shown in close up. The distributors made no category request for the work, but it is clearly adult in theme and tone from the outset, including strong images of real sex, bloody violence, strong gory images, and a scene of self-mutilation. The film had caused a stir in Cannes where it was vilified by some critics and feted by others (there were several press reports of walk outs during screenings). It was described by its director as a horror film and contained several strong images which required consideration when it arrived at the BBFC in 2009.Īntichrist had already acquired a reputation before its submission for classification in the UK. Lars Von Trier’s Antichrist is an English language drama about a couple whose young child dies.
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