Nymphomaniac: Vol. 1

I think the simple fact that the very first thing I did when I got back into town was drag a cute girl with me to see a movie called Nymphomaniac, even though I hadn't slept or showered in 48 hours, makes me a pervert! Is this is a porn that we saw together in an adult theater? No. It's an art house movie made by one of the industry's most frustrating directors in Lars von Trier. I say he is frustrating because you can see that he has talent but he always feels the need to go way too far with his over stylized artistic expression in his films. So much so that you are completely taken out of the moment and you are left either shaking your head in disbelief or you simply stop watching out of disgust. The good thing about Nymphomaniac is, that similar to his last film Melancholia, he gets most of this wackness out of the way early on. So after about 5 minutes of a dark screen with only the sounds of raindrops coming from the theater's speakers, he for the most part gives you his most coherent film to date!

And I never thought that I would type these words but I truly feel as if this movie was in the best possible hands to deliver it in the manner in which is was conceived. Nymphomaniac is about a self diagnosed sex addict named Joe(Charlotte Gainsbourg) who is found beaten in an alley by the helpful and curious Seligman (Stellan Skarsgard). Once he gets her to his place to help mend her, she admits to him that she is probably one of the worst people he's ever met in his life; and that it is all due to her psychosexual disorder, nymphomania. She rather openly tells him about all of her sexual conquests; starting from early on as a child when she discovered her sexuality up until her young twenties when she was having sexual encounters with multiple men per day. All the while tying her stories to the hobbies of Seligman, which he shares with her in between her tales of promiscuity. As the movie goes on, you find yourself wondering if this all really happened or if these stories are just strongly suppressed desires of hers that she is vicariously living out through the memories of a woman she made up.

I will say that for the most part it all feels very real even though there are curious connections to Seligman's love for fly fishing, Fibonacci's numbers, and Bach's musical style. Is she merely playing him to lure him in as well? I will let you decide these things for yourself as I am sure that you are here to read about the sex and nothing else. And I have to admit, that was the only reason why I saw this film myself. After Dogville, Antichrist, and Melancholia, I swore to myself that I would never again waste a single second of my time on another von Trier film. But after reading about how the sex scenes were so hardcore that he had to hire professional porn stars to act out those specific scenes as body doubles for the real actors, I couldn't help but give it a shot. I mean, I sat through 2 hours of pain just to see Kristen Dunst's boobs once, I could certainly make it through another 2 hours for some legitimate Hollywood porn. Ok, I feel really dirty after typing that out.

Anyway, if you're are looking for something that is erotic, this really isn't the film for you. Some of the sex scenes are steamy and get you going but for the most part they are just uncomfortable as you see a young Joe almost uncontrollably going from man to man in hopes to quench this insatiable fire of hers. But the cool thing about this film is, Joe is never portrayed as this helpless figure that feeds into the stereotype most men would attach to this disorder. Rather she is in full control of who she spends her time with and is rather unapologetic about it; its just that she is a slave to pleasing herself no matter what the means are. There is one scene in particular involving the show-stopping Uma Thurman that fully puts this on display as she confronts her cheating husband and Joe in her apartment. Also this disorder isn't caused by any daddy issues as you see the loving relationship she has with her father, which eventually leads to some of the films most poignant moments. And her dad just so happens to be played wonderfully by Christian Slater.

Before I ramble too long about this film, I just want to hammer home the fact that this movie would've never been released if it were put in the wrong hands. Hands like Brett Ratner who would have regaled us with stories of his infamous pool parties, or that of Spike Lee who would have added an annoyingly loud jazz score with odd still shots of nymphomaniac pioneers of the past (this sounds kind of cool actually). Von Trier decided to forgo talking dogs or long still shots of random things on a golf course this time and basically shot this movie straight. or as straight as he can anyway. Wait, talking dogs and long still shots? Maybe he's Danish reincarnation of Spike Lee (see Summer of Sam)!!!

My cute friend wasn't at all affected by the use of the C word but I do think the sex game on the train between Joe and her best friend B was a bit much for her. I loved this scene however as I found it to be both comical and sad at the same time. Which overall is a perfect description for this movie. I rate this movie as FRESH and suggest that you go see the unrated version for the full effect. I'm off to go buy a yearly pass for our local train because I am a self diagnosed perv! Good night and good luck!