Starring: Stacy Martin, Shia LaBeouf, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Stellan Skarsgard.
Nymphomaniac listens to the story told by Joe (Stacy Martin), of her life, sexual encounters and how she came to be a nympho.
I personally felt as though Nymphomaniac was perfectly executed. The way the story was told to a stranger who didn't judge her, the stories she told and the emotions conveyed from the stories were excellent.
The acting by Stacy Martin and Charlotte Gainsbourg, who both play Joe, was exempt. I felt as though the younger version (Martin), radiated a sense of innocence but also mystery, as if she had been through a lot more than she was letting us know. This worked perfectly in tone with the story-line and narrative.
There were many little touches and details in the film, that definitely added new qualities to the movie. The story is being told to a man, who I assume is a math teacher or mathematician. He uses the information learns from Joe and uses math to understand them. This on it's own was a very unique touch but also, on screen we see the math being performed. I thought that this was a very special detail to be included and positively influenced my opinion of the movie.
The cinematography of the film was very simple and minimal. With a lot of pale settings but bursts of colour. The shots were also very minimalistic, not in a positive way. Although there were some engaging shots, I feel like a movie of this calibre, with so many emotions and movements involved, that there could have been more close-ups or shots that really captured the essence of feelings.
One of my favourite scenes, is one where Joe is masturbating on the train to the details around her. The details are from the passengers surrounding her and the things about them that remind her of her boyfriend. I feel like this was such a romantic scene, whilst seemingly not meaning to be. It shows the depth of her love and I feel as though it's something that the majority of people can relate to.
As a whole, the film was very interesting and very unique for me to watch. Although it was essentially about sex, I feel as though it was much more about the relationships she had with the people she meets and how each relationship made her react differently. It showed the different levels that can be given to sex depending on the level of lust and love.
I do think Nymphomaniac was a very genius movie. At first I didn't expect too much and thought it would be a lot more rough and chaotic than it was but I was very pleasantly surprised I was very surprised at how emotive it was and the details made this film extra special to me. For the first Lars Von Trier film I have watched, Nymphomaniac has made me want to look further into some of his movies.
