Nymphomaniac: Volume 1

(Review vol. 1 & 2) I saw the two volumes in one session, an exhausting but gratifying experience. Reviewers seem to think the movie is repetitive, which is true, but that doesn't mean it's boring. Not so much a movie about sexual addiction (Shame was much more precise in this regard), as a perverted (yet strangely lighthearted) hagiography. Von Trier is determined to show what it would mean to live by one (and only one) idea, disregarding the practical consequences this decision has.

A sarcastic epic of female sexuality: THE real cunt-aware and cunt-loving feminist demanding for her whole life nothing but the right to desire. Such a total shame that this film even has (or had to have) a cut version, even though the editing didn’t seem to have done as devastating a damage as in the cases of some other films (like Kenneth Lonergan's MARGARET).

Yikes.

It's an interesting and very open story about growing up with an addiction although it wasn't as great as I was expecting. The beginning of the movie felt forced. The main character did not win my sympathy, mainly because she was too phlegmatic. At the moment the actress is changed the whole character seems to change, therefore it makes the story inconsistent. Felt a bit bored at times but it slowly drags you in the further you watch.

Lots of fishing and bad sex. If it wasn't for the taboo subject, the ratings would be much lower.

An odd one to rate as the 5 segments vary massively in both mood and quality. The framing device as Skarsgard as the world's worst listener ("okay, yeah, now express this apparently important phase of your life with the Fibonacci numbers!") only adds pretensions of intellectualism and three fifths of the movie are rather crap, but the segment with Thurman is genuinely hilarious and the one with Slater in a bigger role actually touching.

The Gainsbourg/Skarsgård parts are really irritating, forced and unbelievable. Hope it gets better in part 2

As a general fan of Lars von Trier's work, I already knew what to expect going into Nymphomaniac: Vol. I. However, I still wasn't prepared for it. This is one dark film, and whether or not you think you can handle it, the only way to know for sure is by watching this analytical take on human sexuality for yourself. Interestingly, its grimmest moments are shadowed by a mix of nostalgia and, in some cases, hope, which makes this movie, in my opinion at least, a must-see of 2014.