“Then there are some who will out Nymphomaniac as pretentious and vapid, which are two words I often find linked to Von Trier’s work.”

Before I can even write my own review of Nymphomaniac: Volume I, I need to address the barrage of scathing ones that litter the “User Reviews” section of IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes. Since when has explicit sex in films immediately written the particular film off as lacking any substance and been ostracized as a pornographic film? I have yet to find a review of Nymphomaniac: Volume I or Volume II that did not use the words “porno” or “pornographic” as a criticism of the film’s content. The same goes for Harmony Korine’s “Spring Breakers,’ which – after my lengthy, rambling blog post – I think I’ve made a clear enough point on. When did film criticism become so simple-minded and shallow?

Yes, it’s true Nymphomaniac: Volume I contains quite a bit of sexual content and graphic depictions of intense, dirty sex. But yes, it’s true – contrary to what I assume many reviewers believe – a film with graphic sexual content can also be smart and have substance. Nymphomaniac: Volume I is part one of a two-part film that was shown at festivals in its entirety, running at about five and a half hours. It is a harsh watch, cold, nihilistic, and unflinching in its depiction of a sex addict who has entirely devalued sexual intercourse for herself as she consistently craves sex and doesn’t seem to see a problem with it. It’s an uncompromising addiction for her, but she has never seen anything wrong with it ever since she discovered her vagina at around four. Since adolescence, she has indulged in sexual pleasure and is now recounting her experiences to a total stranger (Stellan SkarsgĂ„rd), who finds her beaten, bruised, and disheveled after an act of prostitution.

Nymphomaniac Vol. I
Written & Directed by
Lars von Trier
Cast
Charlotte Gainsbourg, Stellan SkarsgÄrd, Stacy Martin
Release Date
6 March 2014
Steve’s Grade: B+

The title character is Joe (Charlotte Gainsbourg), an attractive young girl with an unattractive past. We follow her through her sexual escapades and her many relationships throughout the course of the film, stunned at her lack of feelings but all the more fascinated by her lack of inhibitions and her crave for desire.

Coming off of Abdellatif Kechiche’s acclaimed “Blue is the Warmest Color,” where the graphic lesbian sex had an undeniable vulnerability and musicality to it, Nymphomaniac: Volume I uses its sex scenes to shock, intimidate, and bewilder. Both Kechiche’s Blue is the Warmest Color and Von Trier’s Nymphomaniac use sex for totally different reasons. Kechiche uses it because he wants to show how the characters of his film desire to please each other in newfound ways, be it intellectually or in an erotic way, to instill deeper feelings of love and affections. Von Trier uses it to show a deeply intimate act devalued and cheapened by an uncontrollable addiction that never seems to be fulfilled.

Von Trier consistently focuses on emotion throughout the course of Nymphomaniac. Consider the scene when Joe must break the news to her current’s beau’s significant other that she is sleeping with him and her husband is having an affair. Carefully observe Joe’s passive, disinterested stance while she witnesses a family be torn about because of her actions. Von Trier carefully shows the impact a nymphomaniac’s life has on not just her but those around her, and it’s that focus that allows the true ugliness of sex addiction to come out. Sure I believe many addicts are sympathetic about what they do, but it’s the unfeeling way Joe goes about her actions that makes her so contemptible and such an ugly character.
*****
The last film I saw on sex addiction was Thanks for Sharing, a more light-hearted, softly-comedic look at the issue, with even one character regarding sex addiction as the thing that men say when they caught cheating and can’t think of an excuse. In America, I still think there’s a stunning ignorance to the often crippling side effects of sex addiction, and besides Nymphomaniac, the other film that does a wonderful job of illustrating it is Steve McQueen’s “Shame,” a fascinating and melodic tone-poem of a film concerning a sex addict whose younger sister pays him a visit in his spacious New York loft. The film also contained very graphic sex, which I found only complimented the material.

Many will jump on board the judgment and bliss train and say they do not want to be burdened by Nymphomaniac‘s lofty, often depressing subject matter (it’s the final installment in Von Trier’s Depression Trilogy for a reason) and more will say that the graphic sex offputs them. Graphic sex in film, pornography, literature, or whatever has never offput me. I love viewing sex in film mainly because I come from a country that seems to often take offense to it in cinema, even though we sexualize everything in our advertisements and our media. Sex also adds a beautiful layer of passion and delight inside a film, and it’s a layer I never tire of seeing being applied. It’s sad because those ignoring Nymphomaniac or criticizing it for it’s sexual content (also, saying the film is just “empty” is an invalid criticism to, given the film has many themes and ideas to latch on to) are the ones who need to look deeper and see a film like this more than those like myself who are content with graphic material.

Then there are some who will out Nymphomaniac as pretentious and vapid, which are two words I often find linked to Von Trier’s work. I don’t know, maybe I just enjoy the subject matter, the coldness, the graphicness, and the willingness to explore an addiction often overshadowed by that of alcohol, drug, and gambling. At least those who see it – and even loathe it – will maybe learn a new word or a new addiction to mentally mark down.

Review by Lead Film Critic Steve Pulaski