Review: Nymphomaniac: Volume 2 (2014)

Volume 1 & 2: * * * 1/2
Director: Lars von Trier
Starring: Charlotte Gainsbourgh, Stellan Skarsgard

And so it concludes. After abruptly leaving the story (and its protagonist) hanging at the end of Volume 1, the story picks up in more or less the same place in Volume 2, but uses the division to take a sharp turn. Volume 1 is "Nymph," lighter in tone and lighter on its feet, concerned largely with sex as a source of pleasure, while Volume 2 is "Maniac," darker, more serious, concerned with sex as a source of violence. Together, the two pieces suggest a work in which director Lars von Trier is conversing both with himself, revisiting his past films in references both big and small, and, through the narrative's framing device, metaphorically conversing with his critics and audience. Taken together, the two volumes make for a film that is often fascinating, sometimes frustrating, but never boring.

Review: Nymphomaniac: Volume 1 (2014)

Volume 1 & 2: * * * 1/2
Director: Lars von Trier
Starring: Charlotte Gainsbourg, Stellan Skarsgard, Stacy Martin

I'm not sure there's any real way to assess the first volume of Lars von Trier's Nymphomaniac in the absence of its second half. Unlike the Kill Bill movies or Stephen Soderbergh's Che, where one narrative is split into two complete films that are able to stand alone, Nymphomaniac is an unfinished product, so evaluating it would be sort of like evaluating a book after reading to the middle and then stopping mid-sentence, or like evaluating von Trier's Melancholia based only on the "Justine" section. Without the benefit of the second half of the story, I can only say a couple of things for certain: this is von Trier's funniest English language film, Hollywood should stop neglecting the talents of Uma Thurman, and if what Volume 1 seems to be setting up actually pans out in Volume 2 then this may turn out to be a truly excellent film.

Review: Melancholia (2011)

* * * *
Director: Lars von Trier
Starring: Kirsten Dunst, Charlotte Gainsborough, Kiefer Sutherland

It probably says a lot about Lars von Trier as a filmmaker and/or person that he begins his tale of the apocalypse by showing that the earth will ultimately be destroyed, thereby removing any underlying sense of hope that might otherwise have marked the story. And yet, despite that, Melancholia may very well go down as one of von Trier's most light hearted films. Although perhaps not as challenging nor as provocative as some of his other recent work, it is nevertheless an entirely captivating and fascinating film.