NYMPHOMANIAC: VOLUME 2

When last we left Joe (Charlotte Gainsbourg) at the end of “Volume 1”, she was screaming at the shock and realization that she could no longer feel anything, much less enjoyment during the act of sex.  During her continuation of her story to Seligman (Stellan Skarsgard), she admits to the irony that in her greatest moment of domestic bliss, she was totally unsatisfied sexually and because of this her relationship with Jerome was always doomed.  Her story continues as she explains that she sort out the company of “dangerous man” in an attempt to find pleasure through sex once more, and to again achieve an orgasm.  She ends up getting mixed up in the world of BDSM and with the sadistic “K” (wonderfully played by an against-type Jamie Bell).  It is through her involvement in this world that her skills as a mother are questioned by Jerome, who ultimately leaves Joe and takes their child away with him, leaving Joe alone in the world and more in a state of depression and self-hate.  As a way to reject society (and thus inversely, being rejected herself again), she turns to a more violent way of life, full of aggression and angst, as she starts up her own debt collection (aka extortion) business with the help of the mysterious “L”, using her knowledge of men and their secrets for leverage in getting what she wants for her clients.  After being very successful for a number of years doing this job, Joe and “L” decide that they need to train a successor for the business which is where “P” comes in.  “P” is the daughter of a dead junkie mother and a jailed for life father, and is the perfect target for Joe to get close to and manipulate in becoming part of her business.  This reprehensible act is the final piece of the puzzle that will finally lead to us learning how Joe became to be that bloodied and bruised mess that Seligman found unconscious in the alley at the beginning of “Volume 1”.

As predicted, “Nymphomaniac: Volume 2” is a much darker film than its predecessor and a lot less fun.  However, like the earlier film, it does move at such a quick pace, that it is never a chore to sit through.  Joe continually goes towards darker territory during her journey and meets up with the shadiest of characters in this volume.  Her experiments with BDSM are probably the most interesting but are also the most confronting.  The scenes of Joe being tied up, whipped, slapped or punched are shot in such are manner that it is so disturbing and violent to watch, that you cannot imagine what it was like for the actors to shoot.  The scenes are so realistic that you can see welts appear after each crack of the whip on poor Joe’s bottom, and yet Gainsbourg is such a talented actress that she is still able to convey that she is receiving sexual pleasure from these violent acts, through all the pain.  As I alluded to above, Jamie Bell is magnificent in the role of “K”, the man who beats Joe as per her wish.  He makes “K” seem like an average guy with this exception of his “perversion” which he does not explain or even attempt to defend.  He is sure within himself of who he is and doesn’t ever question what he is doing, which ultimately makes him one of the most honest characters within this film.

Speaking of honest characters, the character of Seligman is much less prominent in this volume of “Nymphomaniac”, as are his digressions in regards to Joe’s story, which I think is a shame because his analytical responses were my favourite parts of “Volume 1”.  While he plays less of a role in the film, we do get to learn a little more about Seligman himself, particularly when Joe accuses him of not listening properly.  She determines he cannot be listening because he hasn’t become aroused with her “dirty little” stories except when it comes to the mathematical or theoretical points to them.  Seligman explains that he is asexual and a virgin as well, and as such he is the perfect person to listen to Joe’s story because with never having sex or sexual feelings before, he can listen without judgment.  This revelation is a bit of a shock and actually reduces Seligman’s effectiveness as the character becomes emasculated at least in terms of the gentlemanly way he has treated Joe up to this point.  Interestingly as Joe’s story continues you can feel Seligman getting frustrated with it and with her, as she starts to do some quite reprehensible things.

I mentioned above that “Nymphomaniac: Volume 2” is a lot less fun, and this is true particularly in Von Trier’s handling of the material.  All the cinematic fun he seemed to be having in the first volume is almost gone here, but I want to make mention of one self-referential scene that I thought was brilliant.  During Joe’s experiments with BDSM, she starts neglecting her toddler, frequently leaving him alone at home without a babysitter so she can visit “K”.  Von Trier then tricks the audience into thinking tragedy is about to happen by evoking a scene from his “Antichrist”.  The snow begins to fall, the child gets out of his crib and moves towards the open window.  The exact same piece of music that plays over the scene in “Antichrist” is reprised here, so viewers familiar with that film immediately feel sick in the pit of their stomach because they know that in the earlier film, the child falls to his death.  Personally I was devastated by this and felt it again as soon as the music kicked in with “Nymphomaniac”, but Von Trier ends up subverting the scene this time around, with the boy being saved in time by Jerome.  The audience is relieved but angry with Von Trier, as we know he has deliberately played us for fools.  This is the fun Von Trier has in “Volume 2”.  The other self-referential point in the film is during a very brief moment when Joe attacks political correctness and particularly those that condemn people for using the wrong language even when those people’s intentions and comments were pure.  In light of Von Trier’s comments about Hitler and the way he was treated soon after, I couldn’t help but think this was his way of shaming his attackers.

Back to the story of Joe, and I must say that once Joe rejects society and becomes a debt collector, I think the film became a little ridiculous.  While there is nothing wrong with the scenes themselves, I just could not buy into the fact that Joe’s life would ever head down this path.  It seems so unrealistic and more of a fantasy than the truth.  Again, the scenes are all well acted (it’s nice to see Willem Dafoe in the small role of “L”) but nothing rings true.  It is during this chapter that I think Von Trier loses his way with his film for a bit, and continues to do so with the inclusion of the character named “P”.  When the relationship between Joe and “P” (a much younger woman) becomes sexual in nature, it felt wrong and very uncomfortable and again, I did not believe the emotion behind it at all.  I didn’t understand why “P” felt as close to Joe as she did, but more so, if everything before it was true (emotionally speaking), the way this story arc ends is puzzling to say the least, and frustratingly so; not least because it relies on huge coincidence (due to spoilers I cannot talk deeper about this issue, sadly).

However the film picks itself up towards the end, as Joe finishes her story and Seligman delivers his retort and it soon becomes apparent that “Nymphomaniac” is a call for tolerance and acceptance for all people but particularly for women, who sometimes get an unfair shake in the world.  Seligman explains that if Joe were a man and that man did everything that Joe did, no one would bat an eyelid, but because Joe is a woman she has to suffer and feel shame for embracing her sexual nature, and it is because of this shame that Joe reacted so negatively towards the world and not because she is a terrible person.  This is the moment Joe can look at her life and let go of all unnecessary shame and accept who she is and start her life afresh.  It is a beautiful moment and a fitting end to the story, but being a Lars Von Trier film, he has one more kick in his tale to make sure that the ending is not a completely happy one.  I will not go into detail about this final moment except to say that while I understand what Von Trier is saying here, I was not a fan of this part at all and thought he should have ended the film thirty seconds prior to when he did.  That would have been the perfect ending.

Overall, after viewing “Nymphomaniac” as a whole now, I can say that it is an up and down affair (no pun intended).  Even though the second volume has more problems than the first, I did actually enjoy it more than the first.  This I am sure has to do with my personal preference of watching darker themes and stories, which “Volume 2” admittedly has, but the fact that Charlotte Gainsbourg plays the role of Joe almost entirely here also adds to the fact greatly.  She is a phenomenal actress, and so incredibly brave.  She is also surrounded by a number of great performers this time around, the likes of Willem Dafoe and Jamie Bell (you will never look at “Billy Elliot” the same way again) and even a couple of cameos from the great Udo Kier and Jean-Marc Barr.  Be warned though, the moments of violence and brutality in the BDSM scenes are incredibly confronting and graphic, and are sure to affect certain viewers in a negative way.  While Lars Von Trier’s latest film is no masterpiece, it is a very interesting film that starts to lose its way before coming back strong for its finale.

3.5 Stars.