with respect to arild's observation that > von Trier himself saw Dreyer "The Word". From this film Trier gets > a core problematic: is Bess insane or is she a modern Jesus? Only, Trier > does not manage to make this question a disturbing dilemma. . . . it seems to me the power of the film came from the way it made the dilemma VERY disturbing indeed without falsifying or exaggerating any of the alternative claims that are held suspended in the precarious balance of undecidability . . . but of course all of this is shot to hell by the obviousness of the final tableau which undermines the film not only by violating generic expectations [perhaps our generic expectations SHOULD be buried] but by making the question that has been the spine of the film trivial, and by making any viewers who took the question seriously feel foolish and abused by the movie the defense of the film on fatuous grounds that it is represents a kind of post-modern theology insults both post-modernism and religion mike frank ---- To signoff SCREEN-L, e-mail [log in to unmask] and put SIGNOFF SCREEN-L in the message. Problems? Contact [log in to unmask]