Wednesday, August 30, 2017

Sex over love, sex over pain: an analysis of 'Nymphomaniac'

An analysis of Lars Von Trier's 'Nymphomaniac'


In this video, I will analyze key themes from Lars Von Trier's 2013 film 'Nymphomaniac.'  

The film’s all-star cast includes Charlotte Gainsbourg, Stellan Skarsgard (Insomnia), Willem Dafoe, Christian Slater, Uma Thurman, Shia LaBeouf as Jerome, and Stacy Martin as the teenaged Joe. This film challenges the social conventions of sexuality through a woman who pursues her desires openly while eschewing any emotional intimacy with or responsibility for those affected, including men to whom she declares false feelings to entire families these men abandon to be with her. The film works sociologically as well as a metaphor of how society’s growing appetite for and desensitization to stimulation is alienating us from ourselves and the emotional needs of others, a theme similar to Pier Paolo Pasolini’s 1975 film called Salo, based on Marquis De Sade’s 120 Days of Sodom. Instead of pleasure, that film describes civilization rotting to a point where it is incapable of distinguishing pleasure from shit. The film was (and still remains) extremely controversial and is still banned in many countries. Charlotte Gainsbourg is incredible in this film, Nymphomaniac, as she is in Lars Von Trier’s 2009 film, AntiChrist, which also stars Willem Dafoe. Since leaving the Transformers franchise behind, Shia LaBeouf has become a seriously good actor (He is stellar in this film). If you like this video, I would appreciate if you'd like it, leave and comment, and join my channel for more videos like this.