Nymphomaniac: Vol. I
Studio: Magnolia
Directed by Lars von Trier
Mar 21, 2014
Web Exclusive
Who better than famed provocateur and Cannes persona non grata Lars von Trier to present a 4+ hour, sexually graphic (unsimulated?), thematically dense epic film about the life of a female nymphomaniac? He’s built his much-feted career by depicting downtrodden, socially repressed, and culturally oppressed female protagonists, starting with his underappreciated treatment of Medea, then continuing throughout a legendary catalog. He’s even traversed this specific sexual territory before: In Breaking the Waves, a devout Calvinist woman in rural Scotland descends into a life of sin (promiscuity) in an ill-advised attempt to satisfy her ailing husband; repressive Freudian dogma links a mother’s sexual tryst to her child’s death in Antichrist; and in Melancholia, a bride’s abrupt dissolution of her marriage hastens the apocalypse; and of course there’s Medea’s wrath. What connects those films, and in some way makes them feel like a prequel to Nymphomaniac, is that they address and critique the consequences of desire rather than the impetus for it.
Reviewing Nymphomaniac Part I is an inherently paradoxical endeavor since it is very much part of a whole and not a Part I of anything. Its ending is abrupt and, as such, it does not feel as though an entire thought has been articulated. This is by no fault of Lars von Trier, of course, so proceed with caution when reading this review, knowing that it is impossible to glean his true motives when watching half of his work.
Joe (Charlotte Gainsbourgh), beaten and narrowly unconscious, is discovered by Seligman (Stellan Skarsgard) on his evening walk home from the grocery store. She refuses his plea to call an ambulance, so instead he proceeds to take her to his home for some rehabilitation over tea and conversation. Referring to herself as “a bad person,” Joe begins to unravel the story of her life to Seligman, the end result of which is ostensibly the reasoning behind her “badness.” The action proceeds thereafter in a grating binary framing device, chapters, a von Trier staple, in which Joe looks back at her life, starting from childhood, and we, the audience, see those events in flashback.
Unfiltered and potentially controversial depictions of childhood, adolescent, and young adult sexuality commence. Things like young Joe writhing on the wet floor experimenting with pre-masturbation, and teenage Joe (Stacy Martin) going on a railway fuckathon with her friend to shag as many men as possible; the prize for the winner is candy. Aside from one non-simulated depiction of oral sex (and even that is filmed with body doubles), there’s nothing so sexually graphic involved, really, at least not compared to other “non-simulated” cinematic sex depictions like Baise Moi or Brown Bunny, or even von Trier’s own underrated The Idiots.
Once we see the flashbacks accompanied by adult Joe’s ceaseless narration, von Trier resumes present action wherein Seligman academicizes Joe’s history by providing it with a philosophical or historical analog. The fly-fishing metaphor is first, however, and it goes on for an interminable length. At first it’s funny, but then it begins to annoy, as does much of the rest of Part I of Nymphomaniac.
There are several highlights: one of them, oddly enough, belongs to Shia LaBeouf who plays Jerôme, the young man who takes Joe’s virginity, and the person she comes back to and falls in love with as a young adult. LaBeouf’s organic smarm and charisma (yes he’s charismatic) work perfectly as the love interest and eventually put-upon young husband.
But the film’s true highlight comes in the “Mrs. H” chapter. Before Joe gets married she brings different men, many men, to her apartment each day for sex. One of those men, Mr. H, leaves his wife for a life with Joe. Mrs. H (Uma Thurman) shows up with kids in tow, asking Joe if she can show the children the “whoring bed,” and making a huge scene that finally gives Thurman the chance to show off the true extent of her range. Meanwhile Joe is half-smiling in the corner, delighting in the havoc her irrepressible sexual desires can cause. Thurman is sensational in both the comedic and emotional moments, giving her best performance to date, and one of the best in a von Trier film. Unfortunately, she’s only got about 10 minutes of screen time.
For such a genius writer and formalist, von Trier drops the ball in Nymphomaniac with this framing device that feels both unnecessary and somewhat inferior to his abilities; seeing Joe’s history as it happens would have been a more effective technique than referring to it in flashback. By introducing Joe as a beaten, broken woman, the only conclusion we can draw is that the totality of her life has led her to this dark moment, which is an oddly moralizing way to present the story.
All that said, there are flashes of the brilliance for which von Trier has become synonymous, even though they’re slightly obscured by form. The purpose of the framing device becomes apparent almost immediately as Part II resumes, and the degree to which it grates will vary per viewer. The project’s biggest flaw is that it’s unclear what the director hopes to unearth on this topic that he hasn’t already in one way or another, and better.
Author rating: 5.5/10
Average reader rating: 7/10
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