“Nymphomaniac annoys me, repels me, and I think I might love it. It's an abusive relationship; I need to see it again.” ‘- The Guardian

Yes, I am indeed talking about the new Lars Von Trier movie that takes up a total of 4 hours of screenplay. It was divided into two parts and the first part hit the theaters in Europe around Christmas, just in time to be called one of the most controversial movies of 2013.  The second part followed quickly after. For all US-readers: Nymphomaniac will premier for you guys at the end of March, oh and watch out: spoiler alert!

The movie talks about Joe, a nymphomaniac who reminisces about her life to an older bachelor called Seligman. We see her sexual life in flashbacks of 8 different chapters.

Admitted, the sexual scenes are there and pretty (porno)graphic but the story and dialogue in between don’t leave you turned on, but rather shocked or amazed.

Of course I am not a film critic, but the story captivated me. She talks about herself as a bad person and when she starts going back in memories, I have to admit there are times you might agree: sleeping with married men, leaving her family (including a kid) for sex with other men, walking through a train and sleeping with every man who wants to…

- I loved for example the chapter with Uma Thurman making an appearance as the wife of someone Joe slept with. (Watch trailer here) –  

Of course there are also times where you don’t agree. I could fullheartedly understand some of the comments she had on society or the entitlement she gives herself when talking about sexual freedom.  And I’m not the only one. Selligman in the movie relates every (bad) story she talks about to literary or historic important events justifying most of her actions.

(big spoilers:)

And then the ending, oh the ending. Although feeling genuinely disgusted by some of her decisions, Selligman made a good point: If she would’ve been a man, having sex with a lot of women, leaving his family, … Would it have been less of a shocker?

A big no-go for the movie though: a lot of dicks on screen WITHOUT a condom.  Dear Mr. Von Trier, we cannot agree on that!  At least, I trust our readers are smarter than that: nymphomaniac or not, protect yourself!

Last note: I can’t end this story without a bit of Belgian pride. Did you know that the actor displaying Jerôme in the final chapter is a Belgian actor? Yep, his name is Michael Pas!