In the We Can't Wait series we're looking at our top 14 most exciting film prospects for 2014. Previously we've covered Boyhood, Big Eyes, The Last 5 Years, Gone Girl , Can a Song Save Your Life and Veronica Mars plus movies that just missed the cut. Here's Dave on Lars von Trier's latest which had a successful "surprise" screening (half of it at least) at Sundance this year. -Editor
Nymphomaniac
Agent provocateur Lars Von Trier takes us on an epic journey through the sexual history of Joe, a middle-aged, self-diagnosed nymphomaniac.
Talent
Lars von Trier writes and directs - although in an unprecedented move, he surrendered final cut. Returning LVT players include lead Charlotte Gainsbourg, Stellan Skarsgård, Udo Kier and Willem Dafoe, while Shia LaBeouf, Uma Thurman, Jamie Bell, Christian Slater and Connie Nielsen are among the Von Trier Virgins. Newcomer Stacy Martin plays Joe as a younger woman.
Why We Can’t Wait
Von Trier has a chequered and colourful history, but his immense talent is clear from the raft of talented Hollywood stars littering the cast list of what might be his most ambitious undertaking yet. He’s a deeply challenging and provocative filmmaker, but he rarely loses sight of his characters and the great performances that bring them to life - and he puts women front and centre in that regard. He seems to have found a muse of sorts, or at least a rewarding collaborator, in Gainsbourg, whose waifish figure disguises some incredibly peculiar, eerie power.
I was sold before a single frame had been shot, but the P&A team behind Nymphomaniac have been doing a smart job at selling it nonetheless; the marketing, from the orgasmic character posters to the wittily elegant simplicity of the main design, seem to be perfectly in line with the film’s apparent blend of salty humour and blunt sexuality, while the video teasers have crossed censors’ lines in an inevitable mini-furore. Glimpsing the stirrings of venomous ire in Uma Thurman’s Mrs. H was basically the cherry on top of this perverse cake.
But We Do Have To Wait
Not too long, though. We may yet get to see Von Trier’s own lengthy cut, but Nymphomaniac is receiving a US release in two parts. Part I hits VOD on March 6th March and cinemas on March 21st with Part II following a month later.