Crippled feet
Sadism in Lars von Trier's Antichrist
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6129679 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Siri Erika Gullestad (0000-0003-3439-9438, a Department of Psychology , Box 1094, Blindern, 0317 , Oslo , Norway E-mail, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2011 |
| Volume | 34 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 79-84 |
| Publication date | 2011-01-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The Scandinavian Psychoanalytic Review (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0106-2301 • E-ISSN: 1600-0803 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/01062301.2011.10592890 |
| OpenAlex | W2318904122 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 2 |
Critics of Lars von Trier's film Antichrist have regarded the depicted woman's destructive fury as difficult to understand. In this paper, separation anxiety is discussed as a central unconscious motivation behind the aggressive interaction between husband and wife, and the child is discussed as an obstacle to the mother's exclusive relationship with her husband. The film powerfully conveys how sadistic aggression is unconsciously acted out between mother and son, as symbolized by the mother's crippling of her son's feet. The woman's violence is also a reaction to a her husband “therapist” who, wishing to correct her, fails to understand and contain her inner world, wherefore the therapeutic dialogue itself, disguised as help, is experienced as violently aggressive. This in turn engenders a wish for revenge. Against this background, the film is seen as a critique of cognitively oriented therapy
Aggression · Art · Literature · Personality · Personality disorders · Psychoanalysis · Psychotherapist · Sadistic personality disorder · Unconscious mind · Wife · Wish · Philosophy · Psychoanalysis and Social Critique · Psychology · Psychology, Coaching, and Therapy · Psychotherapy Techniques and Applications · Social Psychology
| Highly cited | No |
|---|