Nymphomaniac (von Trier)

[Melville]

[Melville]

So good.

[Melville]

Volume II: not as good.

[Boner M]

Volume II: not as good.

Was your prior "so good" just for the first part? Cos I agree. Part 2 felt really scattershot and under-realised. Maybe the longer version will be more illuminating, but I dunno.

The Gainsbourg/Skarsgard tête-Ã*-tête remains constantly entertaining throughout, though. "That was one of your weaker digressions" - quote of the year.

[wigwam]

Pretty disappointing and Lars's second worst to Manderlay. There's little pockets of greatness and I loved all of the Greenaway-ish text and the snippets of Tarkovsy-ish nature inserts but hated all the scenes of Gainsbourg and Skarsgard spelling out all the subtextless meanings of the flashback chapters and their on-the-nose reflexivity of the storytelling. And it was zero surprise that everything with LaBouf was unwatchable garbage (I love that he and proto-LaBouf Christian Slater are cast to do accent work, haha, oh Lars).

More of what I loved: Uma's scene where she plays my mom, the 3-part polyphony thing at the end of the first half, the section with Willem and the coked out Stop Making Sense version of Burning Down the House (although it and the credits version of Hey Joe are embarrassingly literal). The part with the self-help group was great. The scene with Jean-Marc Barr was probably the highlight of the film. I'm going back and forth on the ending, I immediately disliked it but had been expecting something along those lines and the more I think about it the more I'm coming around to how great it fits. But still, my high expectations notwithstanding, this wasn't very good at all.

[Melville]

Was your prior "so good" just for the first part? Cos I agree. Part 2 felt really scattershot and under-realised. Maybe the longer version will be more illuminating, but I dunno.

The Gainsbourg/Skarsgard tête-Ã*-tête remains constantly entertaining throughout, though. "That was one of your weaker digressions" - quote of the year.

Yeah, I jumped the gun after the first part. I loved its picaresque structure and tone: the life and adventures of a sexual sociopath, told through digressionary conversations with a man divorced from humanity in an entirely different way. The Godardian style of playful fourth-wall-breaking is brilliant, and the whole thing is hilarious. I even loved the hodgepodge of accents.

The second part I also thought was great until it ran into Willem Dafoe's character. Before that, the dark humor of the first part transitions really well into pathos and tragedy in the second part, exploring genuine difficulties navigating the world, struggling with one's own nature and desire, and making intimacy work. I thought the stuff with Shia LaBeouf, their kid, and the sadist was excellent (and I'm glad its repetition of Antichrist's opening scene didn't exactly duplicate that movie's developments, instead putting an alternative spin on the same idea). But once Defoe is introduced, everything really does feel undeveloped, especially the last twenty minutes or so. Those final scenes make sense thematically, but even then they feel out of place in the extremes of their pessimism, and at least one of them seems to come out of nowhere, character-wise.

Still, as a whole I'd put it near the top of von Trier's filmography.

[Pop Trash]

I really wish Magnolia didn't split this. I would have easily sat in the theater for another two hours.

[ledfloyd]

I wasn't able to finish the first part, but my reaction is pretty similar to wigwams. A lot of her stories felt pretty juvenile, and Skarsgaard and Gainsbourg spelling out all the subtext in the present was pretty grating. The Uma scene was the only one that seemed in any way inspired, and even then it was pretty silly. It just felt like most of the stuff about Lars I dislike the most was turned up to 11 on this one. The opposite of Melancholia. Maybe I'll try again sometime down the road.

[Qrazy]

I thought there was a lot to like here even if it draws it's parallels a little too clearly. However, it must be said that Von Trier can not resist the urge to make his endings unnecessarily provocative, pessimistic and final which utterly unravels so much of the good will he's built up prior.

[Gizmo]

Just finished Volume 1. Looking forward to the second part, though I guess I'll approach with caution after glancing through this thread. I'm really engaged in the story, almost forgetting how graphic some of the scenes really are. Uma Thurman has stole this thing so far.

[Pop Trash]

Uma Thurman has stole this thing so far.

"Would it be alright if I show the children the whoring bed?"

[Qrazy]

Passive aggression brought to new heights!

---

I found that while I didn't dislike either of the actresses playing the nympho I did feel there was a disconnect between their performances. Stacy Martin effectively played the role of the emotionally disconnected sociopath whereas Gainsbourg seemed much more emotionally effected by her situation. I think either performance could work for the character but I don't think they compliment each other effectively.

[Izzy Black]

Vol. 1 is excellent, but I haven't watched Vol. 2 yet. I hear it's worse and I suspect that I won't like it as much, especially given what I've seen and what I expect to happen.

[Qrazy]

Does anyone have a measured defense of the Fibonacci sequence stuff? I found the 5+3 thrusts thing rather silly but maybe I missed something.

[ledfloyd]

Does anyone have a measured defense of the Fibonacci sequence stuff? I found the 5+3 thrusts thing rather silly but maybe I missed something.

I think that's about when I started rolling my eyes.

[Derek]

Does anyone have a measured defense of the Fibonacci sequence stuff? I found the 5+3 thrusts thing rather silly but maybe I missed something.

What. Is that not how you have anal sex?

[Qrazy]

What. Is that not how you have anal sex?

Only on tuesdays... but yeah I get the whole falling in love with the guy you lost your virginity to angle but less so if his sexual antics involve a total of 8 thrusts and then it's have a nice day.

[Pop Trash]

I found the very end of this obnoxious as all get-out. So contrived.

[Bosco B Thug]

Galvanizing, yes. The whole film, the ending, etc. But I was remarkably unruffled by most his provocations. I guess I've fully acclimated to Von Trier's current phase of colorful, post-commercial, post-arthouse discursive excess, and it only makes me smile that someone goes there. I'd have been pleased with a more benign ending, but it speaks some truth: Seligman was more than a little cloying.

[Ivan Drago]

I saw both parts back-to-back at the movie theater. SO. FUCKING. GOOD.

[Spinal]

I'll reserve judgment until seeing Part II, but so far ... I don't know. Once you delve into numerology, you've lost me. And the casting of LaBeouf and Slater is pretty distracting to me. I don't really have emotional investment so far, though I expect Gainsbourg will take center stage in the next film. Maybe that will help.

[Qrazy]

I found the very end of this obnoxious as all get-out. So contrived.

He's basically the anti-Spielberg with his endings and it rings just as false.

[Spinal]

I've also realized that Anthony Dod Mantle makes a huge difference. Missed his work here.

[Pop Trash]

He's basically the anti-Spielberg with his endings and it rings just as false.

I've made this exact comparison re: Dancer in the Dark w/ some of my movie nerd friends and they didn't get it. Basically you can make a "manipulative" movie with an unhappy ending just as much as the typical proverbial Hollywood Happy Ending. Incidentally, I enjoy both Spielberg and Von Trier at least some of the time.

I've also realized that Anthony Dod Mantle makes a huge difference. Missed his work here.

Did you watch vol. 2 yet?

[Qrazy]

I've also realized that Anthony Dod Mantle makes a huge difference. Missed his work here.

The DP on this shot Melancholia though.