Begotten (1991)

A very feeble attempt at affirmatie action

Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

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.

It's difficult to explain what Begotten's about. It's better to be direct and say what this film is. So, Begotten is a collection of stretched out scenes with no dialogue, ambient sounds and indecipherable cinematography. To give credit where credit is due, the beginning scene is pretty good. While it may still be a bit too long, it's creepy and pretty disturbing enough for it to be a pretty good and memorable scene. Unfortunately, it's mostly downhill from here. The rest of the film is indecipherable and boring garbage that felt way too long (ironic since the film's actually quite short).Even if the Begotten was shorter, it still would not be worth your time as most of the actual contents fail to make this film enjoyable.

On researching this movie, I thought I would be in for a film lover's treat. Begotten features grainy black and white on what seems to be a square format with minimal noise and art film style features. When I got into it, the first scene hooked me and I really thought that it would be promising and hold a lot of controversy. However, when things started to come to a boil after the opening scene, I really got bored. It struck me like a blow to the gut and I found myself wondering what I should do with my nails next as opposed to what would be going on next in the film. Begotten is essentially something that would have benefited more as a 30 min short as opposed to 1 hr 15 minutes of confusing nonsense. I really gave up with the characterisations and what was actually going on within the film, because it just got so difficult and pointless to care. For something with such a promising storyline and concept, I was thoroughly disappointed with what I finally viewed and I'm not entirely sure that I'd recommend it to anyone, not even the biggest of horror and gore fans.

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.