Nymphomaniac: Vol. I – ***

Nymphomaniac: Vol. I is an energetically charged, erotic film, which centers around the sexual exploits of a self-proclaimed nymphomaniac, Joe (Charlotte Gainsbourg). The film opens with a wide shot of Joe, on the ground in a dark alley as snow falls. She has been severely beaten, the reason for which is not immediately explained. As the camera pulls back further, a figure is seen walking past but not noticing her.

After shopping at the nearby market, he passes by again, but this time sees Joe. The good Samaritan, Seligman (Stellan Skarsgård) offers to call the police, but she refuses. Instead, she agrees to tea and milk in his home. This is obviously odd behavior for anyone who has just been assaulted, but apparently, this will be explained further in Volume II, along with the circumstances surrounding the attack.

Back in his apartment, Seligman prepares the tea for Joe. They arrange some sort of deal where Joe will recount a tale from her prurient past, while Seligman responds with his vast knowledge of fly fishing and Fibonacci numbers. Yes, it’s an awkward and odd combination, but perhaps the writer/director, Lars von Trier (Melancholia), needed a device to break from the elevated, sensual tension. This elaborate setup is most prominent during the train encounter.

First, however, Joe begins with her earliest ‘sexual’ experience playing with her best friend, B (Sophie Kennedy Clark), as young girls in the bathroom. She then jumps ahead to her teenage years, where Young Joe, portrayed brilliantly by Stacy Martin in her feature debut, clumsily loses her virginity to wannabe bad boy, Jerome (Shia LaBeouf) (he drives a Vespa, I mean, seriously?!). Yet that moment sets off an insatiable wildfire within Joe, one that cannot be easily tamed.

This brings us back to the provocative train sequence. Young Joe and B stowaway on a train. B challenges Joe to a friendly wager: whoever can obtain the most sexual partners before the train reaches the end of the line wins a bag of candy. As they both carefully hunt their prey by cruising through each railcar, Seligman analogizes them to the brightly colored flies used in fly fishing. They are the bait used to reel in their catches. Joe’s catch of the day is the gentleman in first class that offers to purchase the girls’ tickets and save them from being removed from the train. The contest is close, but ultimately Joe is able to best B and relishes in her prize of chocolates.

Fast forward a few years and Young Joe (now in her 20’s), is now in search of a job. She looks for secretarial work, despite having no experience or office skills whatsoever. But, lo and behold, her interviewer is none other than Jerome himself, cleaned up in a fancy suit and managing the family business while his uncle is recovering from an illness. Jerome recognizes her as the girl who he so unceremoniously took her virginity from all those years ago. He promptly offers her the job, obviously thinking he could easily have an office fling with Joe.

Later on, she goes into detail about her daily visits from multiple partners. She sees so many men that she has trouble keeping track of them without making a list, and then deciding which do not make the cut. One of them is Mr. H, a married man who rashly chooses to leave his wife (Uma Thurman) and kids. This leads to perhaps one of the most awkwardly uncomfortable scenes in cinema, as Mrs. H attempts to guilt Mr. H and his mistress for their indiscretions. They even end up having dinner together. Mrs. H has no qualms about continuing to point out to their children how much of a degenerate scumbag their father is.

Nymphomaniac: Vol. I is certainly a wild, overtly carnal ride, but it is also a thorough examination of female sexuality that makes no excuses for its expression. Joe is immensely brave for openly embracing who she is. And Stacy Martin is equally fearless for taking on such a provocative role, especially as her first major film. Charlotte Gainsbourg  and Stellan Skarsgård have an interesting interaction during the ‘present-day’ scenes as well. Christian Slater cameos as Joe’s father, who teaches her about ash trees. She also sneaks into his office as a child to teach herself about her own anatomy. Lars von Trier is an unorthodox director, but can push the boundaries while stimulating discussion. It will be quite interesting to see how the story concludes in Nymphomaniac: Vol. II.