The English language pic is set in nature and based on the theory that it was Satan, not God, who created the world.

In the psychological thriller that evolves into a horror film, Dafoe and Gainsbourg will play a couple who retreat to an isolated cabin in the woods following the death of their child.

BLOODY DISGUSTING: Previously, you've said that ‘Antichrist' had stemmed from the chaotic nature of the food chain.

LARS VON TRIER: Yeah, that's right. I have worked for some years on becoming religious and it still strikes me as a very, very evil idea; the idea of life. It's difficult.

BD: The idea was also put into a combination with an idea of a safe spot, where everything is calm and serene.

LVT: Yes, absolutely. It was a lake.

BD: In ‘Antichrist', you drop these two characters grieving over the loss of their child in the middle of this clashing of ideas. One of the things I really appreciated about the film was that you ran through a gamut of emotions with just two characters. What was the drive behind making the film with just two leads?

LVT: I think it's a little game that all directors at some point want to play. It's kind of a little Dogme rule, to see if you can fill out a film with just two characters.

BD: What were some of the challenges you faced doing that?

LVT: Well, first of all, you have to give a lot of information because normally you would bring in some other characters to give information. Here it's difficult to give information because normally two people who know each other extremely well… The only way to give information would be to have two people give each other what they know already.

BD: You've said that making the film was therapeutic for you. While moving from conception (writing) to actual filming, do you feel the method of therapy had changed for you? Or did you feel it was just one, long session that felt the same?

LVT: You know, writing is something you can do while laying in bed for a long time and be depressed and still get up and write for half an hour. But when you shoot, you have to be there all the time so shooting was the worst part of it. I wrote about 10 pages a days for a month or two. Early in my career, I thought for a long time and then wrote the script in a week. But, that didn't happen this time.

BD: I know you had originally wanted to cast the film younger and Eva Green was attached at one point. Was there anyone you had in mind specifically before Willem approached you?

LVT: We started off casting with the task of finding younger people and we had looked at a few – I don't remember their names. But then Willem came over and asked himself inside, which I was very thankful for. Every time I buy people wanting to come aboard, it's so important that they want to do the same film as you. I was so happy that he mailed me.

BD: Once you got Willem aboard, was that the turning point where you decided to go for an older cast?

LVT: That and the fact that Eva Green's agents were not at all thrilled. She was thrilled by the script but her agents were not.

BD: Was there an instance where Willem or Charlotte were apprehensive about doing anything?

LVT: Nope. (laughs) They were extremely open. It was fantastic.

BD: Were there any scenes or ideas that you had to end up leaving out for one reason or another?

LVT: We had a layer of the film that had to do with moving light, which I thought was a very good idea. We were going to move the lights instead of the camera but it didn't work. So that got taken out of the film and I was very sorry that it was missing.

BD: One of the things that got the biggest reaction at Cannes was the talking fox. You've said before that the fox came to you from a Shamanic journey and the image stuck with you.

LVT: You know about Shamanic journeys?

BD: A little bit.

LVT: The idea is that you travel on this drumbeat – a mental travel – and you travel to this parallel world where you have to have this power animal. You travel with it in this other world. A lot of very strange things happened. I imagine it's a lot like trying LSD without having ever tried it.

BD: Did any of the other images of nature come from those journeys or had they stuck with you through other inspirations?

LVT: I'm a little in doubt where all of it came from but quite a lot of it came from these journeys that I had tremendous fun doing.

BD: As a filmmaker, you essentially put yourself up on the screen when you release a film. You've said before that you never set out to be controversial. After the reception at Cannes and the release it's had, did you ever expect it to cause the stir that it has?

LVT: I stopped expecting anything quite some time ago because you never know what is going to happen. I can only do things that have some kind of honesty towards the person you are. As you can see, I'm not putting a lot of censorship on myself. That can kind of be provoking.

BD: What do you think of the ‘Antichrist' video game that is being worked on called ‘Eden'? It's supposed to take place after the film.

LVT: I think it sounds good. I have this principle with the stuff I'm doing: people can do whatever with it as long as they know how the original looked. You know there are people controlling the light and the film is projected correctly so anything is fine with me and my stuff.

BD: Are you looking to do any more films with the same tone as ‘Antichrist' or ‘The Kingdom'? What's the status on the final chapter of your USA trilogy?

LVT: That final chapter is on my mind but it's not going to happen right now. Right now, I'm working on a film that should be closer to ‘Antichrist'.