Begotten (1991)

So much average

Simply Perfect

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

This movie is easily explained as someone who had a fever dream. It's surreal and plays with your senses and emotions. The uncanny feeling when your're not having a nightmare but a bad dream. There's no clear way of telling if you should laugh or cry in this movie unlike your average box office hits.But if you have the patience and time, this movie will give you strange dreamy never to be forgotten.

I did a quick skim of the movie and felt I wasted every second watching this. Moody, weird, bizarre and unintelligible. If there's a plot, it's not apparent in anything I saw. If it has any meaning at all, I didn't see it. Makes Un Chien Andalou seem far, far more plot driven in comparison ( sarcasm intended ) and I love Un Chien Andalou and truly enjoyed seeing it. Begotten is a mistake in my book.

After some deliberation I have decided that this film is not actually worth watching. Begotten is an early film by E. Elias Merhigne, who would later become known for the Shadow of the Vampire. Shadow of the Vampire is actually a brilliant film, not only thanks to Willem Dafoe's intense portrayal of Nosfereatu and John Malkovich's iconic portrayal of Murnau, but also thanks to I discovered this film on some sort of social media related to artistic horror cinema. Of course, artistic doesn't often mean good and the number of times artistic actually means pretentious is enough to make any cinephile uncomfortable. The Begotten is a film that has taken what the early David Lynch shorts had in terms of creepiness and stripped it of any sense of narrative or even cohesive form. Begotten instead replaces these essential elements of film with some vague, religious symbolism. However, unlike the films of Lynch and Jodorowsky, the religious imagery comes off as completely disingenuous. The shear length of the shots wreaks of pretension and an overly ambitious attempt at being "strange." All in all, this film tries way too hard and in so doing fails at either being disturbing or profound, when it sets out to be both. One can identify elements of Maya Deren, especially Meshes of the Afternoon, but still, the film fails to live up to its ambitions as a work of creepy art. Another film make that comes to mind who has done similar things is Crispin Glover with this What Is It? trilogy. However, even Glover's purposely shocking, pretentious Nazi Shirley Temple and Down syndrome sex imagery is superior to the half-assed attempt that Merhige made in Begotten. The sparseness of the soundtrack and the juxtaposition of nature sounds with a repetitive beating heart does invoke a creepy and even spiritual element. Still, I can't help but feeling that this is some charlatan ploy to evoke some primal fear in me and it doesn't quite work out for a hardcore genre fan. I must admit, I enjoyed moments of this film, but all in all I must say, this is a pretentious work that gives art cinema a bad name. Cinephiles must live not on convulsions alone. Begotten is a student film that doesn't nearly live up to the legacy of student films like Lynch's the Grandmother or Cronenberg's From the Drain. This review originally appeared at http://paranoidcinephilia.blogspot.com

No dialogue, horrific images, surreal atmosphere, experimental cinematography and a concept abstract and haunting. This film is not for everyone. I dare say only the very brave, very patient and very open will find some credit through this ordeal of twisted context.With the directors vague intentions centred around a God disembowelling himself, giving birth to Mother Earth through a brutally and graphic wonder of dark imagination; I believe this film will effect everyone differently.Whilst the atmosphere is beautifully presented through the various unnatural noises and surreal artistry of the intensely graphic nature of this film, the plot itself isn't important. What counts is the journey it puts you through and how you see that vision through your own ideals and impression.I myself found it to be a nihilistic wasteland, where the evolution of humanity is born and instantly based on justice (Mother Earth) and regulation (Son of Earth); where this is both repulsed and lusted after, shown through the dilemmas of the first of the flesh and their fascination to bend it their wills; only to find that time is omnipotent and constantly against their plight. (The Shots of the sun rising, and Moon falling) The Black & White imagery shows the shades of Gray which represents how fickle morality is and can only be seen one-sided by the first of us born. In the end nothing matters. Existence and struggle continues, yet purpose is worthless and tiring. All we need to know was presented to us cleverly through the opening phrases. It's a reflection to our modern ideologies. Is this what the director intended when he first set out to make this? Probably not.However, no films is without it's flaws, and this one suffered from a few too: Most of the shots linger for far too long to keep any attentive interest. The numerous repetition takes you away from the film to make any lasting impact. The extreme close-ups make it hard to manage what's going on. And sadly the mixture of all three means you will be checking your watch every now and then.Is it perfect? No. Is is a masterpiece? No. Do I hail it as one of the greatest films ever made? No. But for something different, something niche and for those with the patience, lead stomachs and flexibility to handle it; Enjoy it, you sick dog you.