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von Trier - Nymphomaniac (movie-r)

bassiebassie 11,710 Posts
edited May 2014 in Strut Central
Anyone else see it? Thoughts?

I have this Lars von Trier problem where I keep trying to recapture the magic I felt watching Europa. I've come close, but it's never been the same again.

I put off seeing this most recent attempt for as long as I could and just bit the bullet and went. I was expecting abject disappointment but was pleasantly surprised. A lot of good ideas with touch and go execution.

I am not sure about seeing Volume 2...I am ok with leaving all those questions unanswered but I would like to see more of present-day, adult Joe (aka Charlotte Gainsbourg) after that rail that played her in Volume 1. Just not sure if it will be worth seeing the story just to see more of Gainsbourg.

Biggest peeve, that her character didn't know who Edgar Allan Poe was.
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  Comments

  • volumenvolumen 2,532 Posts
    Just waiting for it to get to Netfilx. I live in conservative Midwest and would probably have to drive a few hundred miles to see it. I actually had to drive 60 miles just to see Edward Scissor Hands back in the day because it was to "experimental".

    I've read good things and it seems to deal with the honest uncomfortable side of sex which I would rather see then just sex for sex sake. I've also heard it was quite funny. Are those 2 statements true?
  • batmonbatmon 27,574 Posts
    arent there 2 parts?......oops.
  • bassiebassie 11,710 Posts
    yes, two parts.
    I laughed out loud a few times and practically jumped out of my skin once lol

    POSSIBLE SPOILERS




    Hmmm, it's hard to comment on the sex-for-sex's sake because that's somewhat the point of the whole film. If one watches porn, it won't be shocking - except to see it on a giant screen I guess, given most people are online for their smut. For all the fucking going on, it is very well done and natural and humorous and nicely woven into the rest of the movie/story. I am not saying anything new here to say it is a character study. The interaction between her and Seligman is quite good, especially as his role begins to emerge.
  • bassiebassie 11,710 Posts
    sorry - I am also not sure it depicts the uncomfortable side of sex...more like the human and banal aspects of it.
    I don't think I am necessarily the yardstick to use, but I didn't feel uncomfortable at any point.
  • batmonbatmon 27,574 Posts
    my coworker was talmbout this film and was wanting to catch part 2.
  • GrandfatherGrandfather 2,303 Posts
    The dialog made me most uncomfortable.
    "Youre a fisherman, reading the river!"

    :sick:
  • bassiebassie 11,710 Posts
    SPOILERS








    My companion and I read all that fly fishing, cake fork and cantus firmus business differently: he thought it was von Trier over-explaining and beating us over the head with the analogies and "look at how much I know about random shit" and I thought it was more of a character device than a story one. It was for her benefit more than the audience's, if that makes sense. Seligman responds to her stories by acting sympathetic, shy and wide-eyed by changing the subject and/or normalizing them as a way to disarm her. You can't tell to what extent she's making shit up, nor to what extent he is playing a role.

    The music sucked.
  • volumenvolumen 2,532 Posts
    bassie said:
    sorry - I am also not sure it depicts the uncomfortable side of sex...more like the human and banal aspects of it.
    I don't think I am necessarily the yardstick to use, but I didn't feel uncomfortable at any point.

    My post didn't go through last night but the gist of it was......I think we are talking about the same thing your wordings just better.
  • piedpiperpiedpiper 1,279 Posts
    bassie said:
    I was expecting abject disappointment but was pleasantly surprised. A lot of good ideas with touch and go execution.

    Exactly what I thought.

    First part is well done and interesting to watch. I was disappointed by the second part though - not sure why exactly, but it was partly painful to watch and leads nowhere I would say.
  • bassiebassie 11,710 Posts
    That's what I understand. The Nation had a pretty good write-up where the writer says something like in Volume 2 you pay for the fun you had in Volume 1.
    I guess he means that special kind of Lars von Trier fun.

    Well, at least I'm making an informed decision going in lol. At this point I might watch Volume 2 if for no other reason than a completist one.
  • FrankFrank 2,372 Posts
    Not to derail but how hard to watch is Antichrist? I'm all for the mutilation of human private parts but find any manipulations on animals unwatchable and haven't watched it yet for this reason.

    As far as Nymphomaniac, I'm waiting for the five and a half hour long director's cut.
  • bassiebassie 11,710 Posts
    It's hard to watch because it's garbage.
  • FrankFrank 2,372 Posts
    bassie said:
    It's hard to watch because it's garbage.

    Hey I thought it was me with the dismissive blanket statements...

    Really that bad?
  • bassiebassie 11,710 Posts
    I don't remember any graphic animal cruelty. My threshold for animals being hurt is very very low (Killer of Sheep was a pretty hard movie at times, but I digress) and don't actually remember it in Antichrist. Maybe I blocked it out.
    Anitchrist is all style-no-substance which makes the throwback feminine/nature ideology and predictable misogyny even harder to take than usual. I can count the number of movies that I actually felt like I wasted my time with on one hand, Antichrist is one of them. It's wanky and boring.
  • granjerogranjero 147 Posts
    Man, that shit was lame. Up til now I've been a big fan of LVT - The Idiots, Dogville, The Boss Of It All, The Five Obstructions, Dancer In The Dark, Melancholia... all so great - entertaining and interesting and brave. IMO. But this was stoopid.
    Watched it in a double bill a couple of months ago but left 1/2 an hour before the end of part 2 because we were bored and the cinema stunk, no air con, B.O. city, yuk.
    I watched the end of part 2 yesterday and thought: pffffff.
    Can't really understand the motivation to make it so long, and it was so made-up/ daft.
    And worst of all now I dislike Charlotte G. Damn you, Lars!
  • granjerogranjero 147 Posts
    Specifically: such a crap ending!
  • DustedDonDustedDon 830 Posts
    I've always liked Europa, outside of that flm LVT tends to be a bit too pretentious for my tastes but may have to check Nympho......
  • bassiebassie 11,710 Posts
    So, do you recommend I skip Volume 2? In that it adds nothing to the whole experience and may actually detract from Volume 1?
    (I'd have to see it this week before the run finishes on Thursday)
  • granjerogranjero 147 Posts
    bassie said:
    So, do you recommend I skip Volume 2? In that it adds nothing to the whole experience and may actually detract from Volume 1?
    (I'd have to see it this week before the run finishes on Thursday)

    I don't think you're missing much, though now I think about it (and, OK, look the synopsis up to remind myself) the first chapter is interesting if only because Jamie Bell is usually such a wimp. The next bit is stupid, a bit of lesbo action then the pathetic denouement.
    Maybe you should see it through to make your own mind up. Someone I know said the end was a twist. I don't think it's that. But everyone's different and tastes vary. (Off The Wall)
  • bassiebassie 11,710 Posts
    I'll probably decide last-minute depending on my mood.

    I am guessing the end has something to do with Seligman. What I don't know. Short of it all being a dream, him being her father who never died or the whole thing being an elaborate role-playing scene that the two of them pre-planned ("I am left for dead in an alley, you find me and take me home..."), it will undoubtedly be typical von Trier. Either way, Seligman's character and their relationship is foreshadowing it up the wazoo.
  • DuderonomyDuderonomy Haut de la Garenne 7,789 Posts
    bassie said:
    Thoughts?

    [strike]www.pr*nhub.com[/strike]


    EDIT "pronhub" actually takes you to the real site! Google autocorrecting?
  • bassiebassie 11,710 Posts
    Speaking only for Volume 1 - it's waaaaayyyy too much story and blah blah blah for it to be porn. You won't see anything you haven't seen in any number of foreign (or V Gallo) films of the past 20 or so years. I will say, though, it was refreshing to see about as much screen time given full frontal nude male as for female.
  • batmonbatmon 27,574 Posts
    Vol.2 > Vol.1
  • Controller_7Controller_7 4,052 Posts
    I was kind of over it by vol. 2. I also hated the ending. Seemed very predictable and simply for shock. Overall, it was decent and had some good parts, but it's also fairly forgettable.
  • batmonbatmon 27,574 Posts
    Controller_7 said:
    I was kind of over it by vol. 2. I also hated the ending. Seemed very predictable and simply for shock. Overall, it was decent and had some good parts, but it's also fairly forgettable.

    u predicted that ending?
  • KineticKinetic 3,739 Posts
    Controller_7 said:
    I was kind of over it by vol. 2. I also hated the ending. Seemed very predictable and simply for shock. Overall, it was decent and had some good parts, but it's also fairly forgettable.

    I loved it but also hated the ending. Seemed tacked-on, ill thought-through, somehow annoying... but then, I guess that's what he was going for.
  • Controller_7Controller_7 4,052 Posts
    batmon said:
    Controller_7 said:
    I was kind of over it by vol. 2. I also hated the ending. Seemed very predictable and simply for shock. Overall, it was decent and had some good parts, but it's also fairly forgettable.

    u predicted that ending?

    Not that I predicted it, but predictable in the sense that it seemed like an easy cop out ending. It'd be a fair assumption that dude would end up doing something bad. I don't know,. It just didn't seem too original.
  • DuderonomyDuderonomy Haut de la Garenne 7,789 Posts
    bassie said:
    Speaking only for Volume 1 - it's waaaaayyyy too much story and blah blah blah for it to be porn.

  • batmonbatmon 27,574 Posts
    Controller_7 said:
    batmon said:
    Controller_7 said:
    I was kind of over it by vol. 2. I also hated the ending. Seemed very predictable and simply for shock. Overall, it was decent and had some good parts, but it's also fairly forgettable.

    u predicted that ending?

    Not that I predicted it, but predictable in the sense that it seemed like an easy cop out ending. It'd be a fair assumption that dude would end up doing something bad. I don't know,. It just didn't seem too original.

    Either u predicted the ending or you assumed dude would do something bad?

    Which is it?
  • Controller_7Controller_7 4,052 Posts
    Well, your honor, I didn't predict or assume either immediately, but as the 4+ hours rolled along it became a very definite possibility that friendly guy could become not so friendly.

    Were you completely shocked by it? Maybe predictable was the wrong word. I just meant what Kinetic said, like it felt tacked on, something typical of lazy movie endings. Maybe I'm wrong. I feel like the movie itself was unique, but the ending left me thinking "meh."
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