I’m not really very squeamish when it comes to NSFW content. Give me boobs. Give me people’s heads getting blown off. Give me a stream of f-bombs. Give me adult themes. Most of it isn’t going to affect my mood of surprise me in anyway. I tell you all of that to underscore the following statement: the director’s cut teaser for Nymphomaniac is WAY OVER THE LINE. It is not NSFW-ish. It’s not even what you would think of as NSFW. It is NSFW x 5. Even if your boss is cool, if he finds this in your search history, you’re probably going to get a memo about it. And if he’s not cool, I apologize in advance.
Last Chance NSFW WARNING! Still on board? Then click on this image to bring on the dicks…
Not surprisingly, the above trailer has gotten more than its share of people to scream about pornography this morning, but considering anyone who would be offended isn’t this movie’s target audience, I highly doubt director Lars Von Trier cares. Besides, Nymphomaniac is most definitely not pornography. It’s a fairly interesting, fairly pretentious movie about isolation, loneliness and sex that features a lot of pretty graphic sex. That’s outside the bounds of what Hollywood typically gives us, but then again, it’s outside the bounds of what pornography typically gives us too. It occupies a weird space where the two concentric circles overlap.
According to Collider, the original, theatrically released versions of Nymphomaniac were ultimately edited some, with the director’s approval. That’s how they were originally released on Blu-Ray too, but moving forward, he would like to get his original vision out into the world. So, that’ll happen in this director’s cut, though it’s unclear whether or not the films will be sandwiched together or remain apart.
Whether you think Nymphomaniac worked or not, it’s important that there are directors out there who are pushing the boundaries and trying new things. The worst thing the movie business can be is stagnant, and if the side effect of that is the occasional movie that pushes its content a little too enthusiastically into uncomfortable directions, that’s fine. A couple of penis and vagina shots every now and again aren’t going to kill any of us, regardless of what the more cautious and conservative among us might say.
We’ll keep you updated on the Nymphomaniac director’s cut when more official information becomes available. Until then, feel free to watch your standard copy and think about all the different ways it could be made more graphic.
