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I thought I knew what I was getting when I saw Nymphomaniac Vol. 1 (of a two-part, four-hour story). The NC-17 rating meant gratuitous nudity; director Lars Von Trier would put a psychedelic twist on nymphomania. It is with great pleasure (pun intended) that I can report that Nymphomaniac Vol. 1 is gratuitous and psychedelic, but it is also consistently compelling and VERY funny. Plus I learned a great deal about fly fishing.
On his way home from the store, Seligman (Stellan Skarsgard) finds a beaten, bleeding woman named Joe (Charlotte Gainsbourg) on the ground in the alley. Joe doesn’t want the police/doctors, so Seligman takes her into his home where she tells him the story of how she ended up in the gutter. The story involves Joe’s relationship with her father (Christian Slater) as well as young Joe (played by Stacy Martin) embracing her sexuality early and often with multiple partners including her first, Jerome (Shia Laboeuf).
Nymphomaniac Vol. 1 may end up being the funniest comedy of 2014. The heavy subject matter and opening sequences immediately establish tension and urgency. Lars Von Trier uses the audiences expectations against them, dissipating tension throughout this film. This is done in 2 prominent ways: specificity and playing it straight. Specificity is used best in the first chapter. Fly fishing appears to be a very good metaphor for sexual advances and predatory instincts. Seligman explains each fishing technique with aplomb, amping up the wackiness of the situation. Along the way, Fibonacci numbers are referenced as well, perhaps to show a pattern that may or may not be present in Joe’s behavior. The toss in of the numbers and their explanation by Seligman get big laughs when cut back to Joe’s soulless expression. Playing it straight is done to perfection when a jealous wife (Uma Thurman) confronts Joe and her cheating husband at Joe’s apartment, with a 10 minute sequence that nearly had me in tears from the wife saying aloud all the holes in her husband’s decision-making and Joe just playing along. Lars Von Trier’s movies usually lack humanity and light notes due to the gravity of the movie’s plot, but Nymphomaniac finds laughs in sexual awakening the keep the movie from taking itself too seriously.
However, Nymphomaniac Vol. 1 does set up some compelling counter arguments about sex in society without decrying traditional thought. Joe in the middle of all the fly fishing references points out how love made her feel as if she was denying her basic primal lust – and how love put her into direct conflict with her urges by wanted to be possessed by Jerome. Nymphomaniac Vol. 1 argues that these conflicting ideas can be part of a whole: that each piece represents a part of yourself depending on what situation you find yourself in. Nymphomaniac Vol. 1 does not answer the question of how difficult personal harmony can be to maintain, but it does point out that acting in self-interest only can keep you at arm’s length from people you want to love. These are very adult questions that Volume II will hopefully answer.
The performances in Nymphomaniac are all very good. Stellan Skarsgard and Charlotte Gainsbourg are mostly narrating, but Skarsgard’s naiveté and enthusiasm coupled with Gainsbourg’s candor and robotic nature provide for a compelling pairing. Gainsbourg figures to have a bigger influence in part II, and her character is by far the most compelling one in part I. This is due mostly to first-time actress Stacy Martin. Martin is obviously naked for much of this film, which is fearless enough, but she gets some great moments with her father and Jerome that show a deep range I hope Martin gets more opportunities to use. Shia Laboeuf and Christian Slater provide solid dramatic support; Laboeuf hasn’t been this good since Lawless, reminding us why he was once the next big thing. The scene stealer here is Uma Thurman, who gets 20 minutes of screen time and does the acting version of dropping the mic.
Nymphomaniac manages to combine penis slide shows (yep), train trysts, and human organs with Fibonacci numbers, ash trees, and church organs. Lars Von Trier’s injection of the mundane to the exotic provides a nice counterbalance that Nymphomaniac relies upon to stay consistently interesting. If Volume II uses the idea of conflicted counterbalance to as great effect as Volume I, then Lars Von Trier will have done the impossible: craft a 4 hour character study of a woman who lusts for sex with both critics and 17-year-old boys cheering together, in beautiful conflicted harmony.