Item #: 11825 Category: EXPERIMENTAL Format: VHS MPAA Rating: R

Woolly Rating: 5/10 (136 votes)

MEMBER COMMENTS ON THIS VIDEO

JD	May 21, 2001 @ 12:45:11

TWO TAGGED TOES WAY UP!
FNA! THIS IS WHAT MAKES IT WORTHWHILE TO WADE THROUGH ALL THE CAMP. YOU COULD SLICE THIS UP INTO ONE SECOND OR ONE AND A HALF SECOND BITS, SELECT FIVE OF THEM MORE OR LESS AT RANDOM AND TOSS THEM INTO A GENERIC "ART" FILM AND THE REVIEWERS WOULD SPEW ABOUT THE "BRILLIANT NIGHTMARE IMAGERY." THIS IS THE UNCUT PRIMO PURO!

Jesus...
Every once in a while, I'll hear someone say, "You know that movie _Dogma_? It, like, totally blew my mind. That's what I want to believe in," and I'll cringe. More or less, the ideas in _Dogma_ (Kevin Smith's most mediocre film in a line of hit-and-miss flicks) are what you might come up with if you were a 12 year old with an adequate knowledge of the Bible and some spare time on your hands (like I was & like I did). Now, nobody has come up to me and said that about _Begotten_ but, well, that's about the reaction it'd get as well. The idea of a God (with a big "G") killing Him or Itself or otherwise ending up in a nasty end is a pretty spooky. And also very elementary. To laud the movie on the basis of its ideas (God dying, a son [Christ or Humanity] from His remains, a watery Mother Earth figure dancing around on a barren plain) is, well, pretty frigging ignorant. There's not a whole lot new here, and its been done too many times to be innately shocking, but that's not always a bad thing. It's a matter of... presentation. The cinematography was cool... at times. The gritty Holocaust-footage look was very interesting. Chiaroscuro, yup, cool. But... there are several points when you can't tell what's on the screen. That'd be fine, but these points sometimes last five or six minutes, and you find yourself not giving a damn because whatever "ink blot" that's on isn't intriguing enough to hold your attention. You're not sure what wet, slimy, black thing is what. You don't care what the hooded people are doing. Or at least I didn't. There is a difference between incomprehensibility for effect (e.g., _Un Chien Andalou_, _Eraserhead_) and incomprehensibility out of laziness or in and of itself (e.g., bad writing, _Begotten). One succeeds in creating a dreamlike atmosphere. The other succeeds in obscuring the points its trying to make because of their weaknesses. It's the difference between playing with the viewer and screwing with the viewer. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy playing with traditional symbols. Gnosticism, in this respect, is great. If you liked _Dogma_ (or this movie), go read _The Apocryphon of John_ or the _Hypostasis of the Archons_ or _The Book of Enoch_. Now THAT'S some interesting Warped Judeo-Christian Mythological Fun. This? This doesn't go much beyond Marilyn Manson's theology, minus the flair and personality. As one reviewer said, this would make a pretty good ten minute film. I'll give you that. If you were to distill the potent images down, it would be about ten minutes of interesting stuff. Honestly, I enjoyed the part where "God Killing Himself" (what a cruddy name) slashes himself over and over while twitching. That was kinda creepy. Other than that, though, the film was a lot like its sound track: crickets chirping.

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horrible... (beachmonkey)

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a thrill ride... (Alan Hall)

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Elvis in Concert. ... (elvisandmeatloaf@aol.com)

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A great performance... (micca)

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Why this film dserves more than a one star rating.... (Eric)

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... (pike)

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... (pike)

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... ()

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MISUNDERSTOOD... (Caribba)

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the best... (melo70)

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FINE 1949 NOIR/DRAMA... (DKB)

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LOCALLY SHOT DRAMA... (DKB)

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a genius reality check 4 our race we may live in the white mans land & call it hme bt in doing that we deny the truth of our being. All brown skin people nomatta hw light r african rayalty ... (lady swirl)