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Nymphomaniac Volume I

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A review and discussion of the much anticipated film by Lars von Trier, 

 

Nymphomaniac Volume I  

I would call this film a light hearted comedy compared to Dancer in the Dark, definitely one of his more uplifting projects...but that's not saying much.

After reading The New York Times and a few others reviews (more like synopsis), I've noticed that these critics are taking his films too literally. These films are meant to be dissected word for word, and you must search for the true meaning, which in this case has absolutely nothing to do with sex. 

Lars focuses on the same exact topics in all of his films, the beauty of his work is found in the inventive way he presents these points through various situations and stories. Never has he once portrayed life in a beautiful, soft, and happy light. In his art he shows life as torture, a string of cruel, immoral, evil, and unfair happenings. He uses sex as a diversion and a tool, and glorifies death as the ultimate salvation from life. For those of you who want to think deeply, read on.

The Disclaimer

Ok, now would be a good time to admit that Lars von Trier is one of my favorite directors/writers/artists. From the very first time my best friend Evan introduced me to his films, I was riveted. Something about the way he made movies spoke to me in a very deep and personal way. I always walked away with so many existential questions and thoughts.

The way he sets the mood in the opening of this film caused me to close my eyes and shutter in anticipation of what was to come, he makes you face the worlds discomfort of silence and darkness, perfectly complimented with heavy metal, that slaps you in the face. The way he uses music in his films is so enchanting to me, no one can do what he does with music. He has impeccable taste, and he knows exactly when and how to use music in his art form.   

 I make it a point to go into the theatre to see his films with absolutely no background on what they're about and who is in them, I love being completely floored and shocked by everything. I highly recommend this tactic when seeing a Lars film.

Lars von Trier is not for everyone. For most people, going to the movies is about letting go of all thoughts, not having to think and just simply being entertained and transported for a few hours, away from the stress of life. If you are one of those people, don't ever see a Lars von Trier film. Ever! His films force you to think, feel, laugh, cry, and sometimes you don't even know how to react. It has nothing to do with entertainment and everything to do with creating an artistic expression through film. 

 Praise

The way that this man connects dots is pure beauty. I've always found that the art that speaks to me the most is through an artist that can connect the most simple and obvious elements, whether it be colors, ideas or sounds, yet in a way that no one else had ever thought to connect them before. He is an artist of analogy. His analogies are spellbinding.

This film is genius and poetic and it speaks to my soul, but like I said his films are not for the faint of heart. For me, I love when an artist such as Lars can bring out an emotion or feeling that I've never tapped into before, or something that has been repressed or stored in the back of my mind. 

Only Lars could make a film called Nymphomaniac and it would have nothing to do with sex, not to mention sneakily humorous.  He puts genitals in his audiences face, and somehow makes it artistic, almost like in the grand scheme of the universe, what does it matter, it's just a body part.
 
I appreciate the way he describes sex addiction through Bach polyphony, fly fishing and Fibonacci numbers, truly poetic.

 The Creative Process

When I think about  Lars Von Trier's creative process, I imagine him creating a feeling, he digs deep into the intricacies of that feeling, the various complexities that piece it together like a jig saw puzzle. Then he begins creating a scene around that feeling. He forces his audience to feel exactly what he wants them to feel, as uncomfortable as it may be. 

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The best example of this is from the now infamous Uma Thurman scene. Wow. He takes a situation that happens all over the world everyday and all the emotions and feelings that are wrapped up in that situation and exploits it to the point of laughter, gut busting laughter. In that moment I completely understood that situation, he rubs it in your face. I hear his thoughts in this scene, loud and clear. He's saying 'how can this situation happen', it's so unfair and cruel that it's actually laughable. He pokes fun at life and sees death as the ultimate romance, that's Lars.

 

What Does It All Mean?

In Volume I, I feel like he's asking the question, do men have any control? If all women acted like men, what would the world be like? These are some deep and terrifying questions. The fact that he uses a woman as his subject of sex addiction, doesn't go unnoticed. What about the man who plays the devils advocate in telling her that she's not evil, nothing is 'wrong with her', and she is not a sinner...what does it all mean?? Is he trying to tell her that she's simply acting like a man, not a sinner, and she has nothing to feel bad about? 

"If you are not religious how can you be a sinner?" He asks in the very beginning of the film.
 If you're not religious and you call yourself a sinner, than you are a masochist.

This question Lars poses reminds me of some similar Kanye lyrics:

"Human beings in a mob. What's a mob to a king? What's a king to a God? What's a God to a non-believer who don't believe in anything?" 

'Not only is the non believe not ruled by God, to him he doesn't even exist.'(credit) Things only have meaning to us based on whatever we individually choose to believe. This extenuates the power of the mind, mind over matter, power derives from belief. 'That is the only reason why the mob is less powerful than the king, because they believe that they are less powerful. The same can be argued for the other two comparisons, that political and religious systems thrive only as long as people believe in them.'(credit) Without belief, nothing matters. If we didn't believe that money had value than it wouldn't have value. This is a slippery slope, we could get in to Noam Chomsky philosophy and start questioning why a tree is called a tree, but I'll stop there.

Does that mean if you can make someone believe something, it is the greatest power that could exist? We have the power to define everything around us based on our beliefs, we can paint whatever picture we want. Both empowering and frightening.  

Getting back to the first questions I posed about the film: You know how the story goes, if a man leaves his wife for another woman, it's the other woman's fault, not the man's fault. She's a home wrecker and should know better than to mess with another woman's husband, because we all know that men have no choice in the matter, they have no control over themselves. This is what Lars is undoubtedly saying. I mean, is it Frank Underwood who is taking over the White House... or Claire Underwood? Maybe the secret that Sheryl Sandburg is not telling us is that women already have all of the power, we're just not so obvious about it...that is a theory I can get behind. In this film the lead character (Joe) manipulates men into believeing they're in control, when really she's pulling all the puppet strings. What are you saying Lars?

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This is every man's worst nightmare, and maybe even every woman's worst nightmare. The thought that someone can so flippantly play with other peoples lives and emotions with the roll of a dice, literally. I know that this behavior does exist in the world, I've seen glimpses of these traits in other people and it is absolutely terrifying. 

He compares existence to being a caged Lion, just pacing back and forth in this cage of life, until we're allowed to die. Lars sees death as the ultimate adventure, he sees death as beautiful, like Justine (Kirsten Dunst) in Melancholia, the end of the world is her salvation and happiness. Life is a maddening cycle of feelings, lack of feelings, love, lust, manipulation, sex. Death is romance. 

The Bottom Line

  
- You can't rebel against love; not feeling anything is still feeling something. 

- "The secret to sex is love."


I leave you with some food for thought by two of my favorite thinkers...


"Why should we take it to be obvious that if I let go of a ball, it goes down and not up? Learning comes from asking, "Why do things work like that? Why not some other way?" The world is a very puzzling place. If you’re not willing to be puzzled, you just become a replica of someone else’s mind. Visual experience is just simulations of the retina, but we impose an extremely rich interpretation of it. We see the world in terms of trees and dogs and rivers and so on, but then the question is, "Well, what are those concepts?" People are just not satisfied to think, "I go from dust to dust, and there’s no meaning to my life." - Noam Chomsky

"Romance is abused in all sorts of endlessly dull ways in mainstream products." - Lars von Trier