lars von trier - nymphomaniac

right, I didn't think he was against it. just fired it up now, so I'll know soon enough what it's really like.

overall I like this more than dogville and dancer in the dark so far, quite a bit less than melancholia (an all time fave for me)

(on a side note, udo kier's facial expressions continue to be nothing less than hilarious)

finished it. understand why people would find certain bits offensive (and share in that feeling for a few of them), or why they'd find the whole thing maddening. but kind of extraordinary overall.

considering that not that many movies explore or critique nice-guy/dishonest misogyny a la what seligman does at the end, I appreciated this movie for going there and then having joe just say fuck it and clipping him

acting incredible by and large, especially gainsbourg and stacy martin but also uma, christian slater, jamie bell

shia labeouf's scenes were relatively painless at worst and well-handled at best, which for him is a start

Director's Cut >>>>

much harder to watch than the original but, for me, much more rewarding

yeah I'm glad that's the one I chose from the start. got the sense there was as much contextual stuff cut from the US release as there were extreme penetration closeups, violent scenes etc

Finally watched this (the director's cut). All through part 1 I was convinced that Joe was dead and we're watching a metaphorical judgement - her entire life passing before our eyes. I don't know if I could make the same argument after part 2, but killing an evil god/angel/whatever before running down the stairs into hell seems pretty on-brand for LvT.