A self-diagnosed nymphomaniac, Joe (Charlotte Gainsbourg), is found in an alley by a charming asexual bachelor Seligman (Stellan Skarsgard).   She tells the tale of her life from her first sexual experiences with the role played by Stacy Martin as Young Joe as you encounter her ups and downs.  Seligman shares his references with her from literature and his reading as this four hour experience shows an unflinching look at love and lust through the eyes of a woman.   Lars von Trier does have a five and half hour director’s cut planned, but sadly Volume I doesn’t contain the 147 minute director’s cut version which was released earlier this year.  Volume I is about Joe’s tale of erotic encounters when she was young where Volume II takes her down darker paths (where the role is played by Charlotte) as she takes up stranger sex games and gets into debt collecting.  The cast features a wide range of actors who have been at bigger heights in their careers like Christian Slater (as Joe’s father), Shia LaBeouf (as the man she gets obsessed with and has a kid with), Jamie Bell, and Willem Defoe (who will never be out of work as an actor).   

 

NYMPHOMANIAC is part of Lars von Trier’s Depression trilogy (with MELANCHOLIA being another film in that trilogy).   I can’t wait for the director’s cut because this is one of Von Trier’s better films and not one of his worst movies (like the boring DOGMA).   NYMPHOMANIAC isn’t a film for everyone, but it is a nice distraction from films that love to sell sex and/or violence (I love action films, but I watch a variety of films).   Some of the sexual situations are very unglamorous in this two part movie as the director shows the effects nymphomania has on Joe’s life from the story of the husband who leaves his wife for her (when she was trying to nicely blow him off and his wife and children show up too) to her going to sex addiction meetings to getting whipped as a willing participant.

 

SPECIAL FEATURES:

VOLUME I-

THE CHARACTERS featurette- focusing on the characters the actors play and they remark on how the film’s script (and working with the director) attracted them.

 

NYMPHOMANIAC VOLUME I theatrical trailer

 

VOLUME II-

THE DIRECTOR featurette- the cast talk about working with Lars von Trier

THE SEX featurette- the cast talk about how the sex scenes were done including using special effects to superimpose their faces on the porn doubles.

 

NYMPHOMANIAC VOLUME II theatrical trailer

 

FINAL ANALYSIS:   Lars von Trier has created a very challenging (and proactive)  movie with the two part NYMPHOMANIA and I can’t wait for the director’s cut.

 

This DVD review is ©7-6-2014 David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission.  Send all comments to feedback@enterline-media.com

 

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