Nymphomaniac - Go (and) Fucking See it - Luna Cinema
This article in itself is a slightly odd thing and something I would not normally practice. It is in effect, a prelude to a review.
I would never normally consider writing about a film before I have even seen it as I think that although a film's (or any cultural artifact) hype, publicity or surrounding media is interesting to look at from a cultural stand point, it is ultimately the film itself that should be able to stand on its own two legs.
However, the following discussion and circumstances of Lars Von Trier’s latest work is too delicious to leave alone.
Lars Von Trier is one of the most important film makers of his time. Many critics, academics and film goers a like may argue this point with me but in the spirit of Von Trier I say Fuck you to them. He is independent cinema's bad boy, creating images and narrative that many of us would imagine when we think of independent art-house. Women treated appallingly, deeply emotionally driven narratives and characters and a film making style that is deliberately anti-Hollywood. In 1995 Von Trier and his motley crew of fellow filmmakers and artists (notably Thomas Vineberg) established the Dogma 95’ manifesto. A set of laws for film making that put a middle finger to cinema, and then sneered at its artifice. Dogma 95 declared that the camera must always be hand held, no set could be artificial, the screen must not be wide and the director must not take credit, among other things. However, Von Trier proved very quickly (almost immediately) that he cannot even play by his own rules and broke many of them, with the majority of his films declaring his name.
He is cinemas greatest provocateur, with Cunt and Fuck written across his knuckles, he is unashamedly out to push your buttons. Following a press conference at Cannes for his painfully nihilistic film Melancholia, Von Trier somehow ended up saying he sympathizes with Hitler (The video link is below, watch Kirsten Dunst throughout it is hilarious). He was of course banned from the festival and has not spoken a word in promotion of Nymphomaniac. He wore a shirt saying, “Persona Non Grata” with the Cannes logo on it instead. His films have involved any number of shocking moments, from people pretending to be mentally ill in The Idiots, to showing heaven itself in Break the Waves as well as having Willem DeFoe cum blood and Charlotte Geinsburg cut off her cliterous in full close up in his latest film Antichrist.
All of this may sound rather empty, shock for shocks sake, however at the core of any of Von Trier’s greatest work there is an incredible tenderness, near unmatched by many contemporary film makers, each film asks big brilliant question about human nature, they force us to ask question about our own humanity. His 2000 musical (yes musical) Dancer in The Dark is one of the most human pieces of film I have seen, IT IS the saddest film ever made.
It is with this, that I implore anyone who is reading this article to go out and see his latest work, the five hour long, Nymphomaniac. A film in which a self diagnosed Nymphomaniac by the name of Joe takes us through her life and experiences. The film is of course unsurprisingly lousy with actually sex scenes.
Aside from the fact that I obviously think that everyone should see at least one Von Trier film, Australia is very lucky and rather unique in its presentation of Nymphomaniac. The film is already banned in some countries, released in two parts (with a huge length of time between) in others and is heavily cut almost universally. Luna Cinema in Leederville will be having a back to back screening of both films for only one week beginning on March 27th and ending April 2nd. I am unsure as of yet if the film has been cut (I am sure there is come censorship) however the running time has me thinking it has been minimal, particularly relevant to many other nations.
Australia has had an interesting and often very liberal approach to film censorship and it is here that one would truly enjoy the benefits of that.
Go see it. You will be glad you did, I am sure…at least I hope so anyways.
Tickets are available here. It begins on the 27th of March, and runs for a week.
If you are still on the fence, here is Lars Von Trier, just not giving ANY fucks, at the Cannes Press Conference for Melancholia.
-Anthony Wheeler
