Day 199 Nymphomaniac: Volume I [2013]
Screenplay Lars von Trier
Director Lars von Trier
Cinematography Manuel Alberto Claro
Music Mikkel Maltha
Leads Charlotte
Gainsbourg, Stacy Martin, Stellan Skarsgård, Shia LaBeouf, Christian Slater,
Uma Thurman, Connie Nielsen
Production Artificial Eye, Film I Väst, Heimatfilm, Les
Films du Losange, Zentropa Entertainments
IMDb 7/10
Rotten Tomatoes 75%
The
third film in Lars von Trier’s depression trilogy, Nymphomaniac: Volume I,
is essentially an arthouse porn film which tries to find meaning and messages
behind all the sex yet doesn’t quite get there. I’ll ignore the broader message
(if there is one) for now as I need to watch Volume II first and work
out what von Trier was aiming at but I’m not sure anyone bar the mad Dane
himself can break down exactly what’s going on. The first volume is split into
five parts in which we follow a linear set of events in the life of our nympho
protagonist, Joe (Martin/Gainsbourg). Joe is found battered and bruised in an
alleyway by a man named Seligman (Skarsgård). Seligman takes her to his house
to look after her, he is an intellectual man who has lived a sheltered life and
Joe recounts her sexual experiences whilst Seligman listens and analyses them,
hence the film jumps between them in the present and Joe’s past. Volume I
explores Joe’s life from fifteen to thirty-one.
The
film is sexual from the second it opens, with a camera panning down dirty walls
in the alleyway in which Joe lies. The walls are dripping wet – an early sign
of the smorgasbord of metaphor and allegory that follow. Skarsgård and
Gainsbourg bounce well off each other, although most of the acting is done by
Stacy Martin in her break-out role. Despite all the sex providing smoke and
mirrors, Martin gives a performance that I’m sure has sparked further success,
it is a role which could have easily brought about an early ending to her
career, but she was the best thing about the film for me. Well, well, well…
Shia LeBeouf with a performance to forget. Personally, I think Shia is an
excellent actor, and in the scenes where he’s not talking you get a glimpse of
this, but dear, oh, dear when he opens his mouth von Trier’s vision falls apart
in an instant. It’s like he’s parodying the English accent, playing Jerôme, Joe’s
main love interest.
Taboo
is the evident spine in this five-hour epic – if you fancy watching the director’s
cut – and von Trier’s signature. And I have a feeling the taboo is only going increase
in Volume II.
Acting 3.5 / 4
Writing 2.5 / 4
Cinematography 3.5 / 4
Music 2 / 4
HWF rating 2
/ 4
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