Lars von Trier's Antichrist made me sit on my stoop and stare blankly at the concrete until the evening sun dipped below the horizon. And years later, as I sat in my local indie theater watching Melancholia, the final scene nearly gave me a panic attack. Needless to say -- I'm anxiously awaiting the currently undetermined American release of von Trier's latest film Nymphomaniac. But with its Christmas release in Denmark slowly approaching, the marketing tactic of releasing short clips from each chapter of the film is not only an incredible tease to the senses, making it all the more desirable, but they also wink at the vague explanation von Trier gave of his new film genre that he employs in this sexual drama -- Digressionism.
I never guessed it'd be necessary to do anything to market this film, other than tell people what its title is. You'd think a film called 'Nymphomaniac' would kind of sell itself. Not only that, but the film's website with the phrase "Forget About Love" etched above a pair of yonic parentheses. But, the creators of the film decided to titillate their audience with an interesting marketing plan, described here in the press release. Thanks to FirstShowing for putting this up:
Using a structure known from literature Nymphomaniac consists of chapters, encapsulating both VOLUME I and VOLUME II and during the next eight months, starting from June and like domino pieces counting down to the release, small bites of these chapters will be published exclusively by a community of selected newspapers around the world.
The film showcases a bunch of stars: Charlotte Gainsbourg, Stellen Skarsgård, Shia LaBeouf, Willem Dafoe, Uma Thurman, and Christian Slater, centering around Joe (Gainsbourg), a self-confessed nymphomaniac as she looks back on a lifetime of sexual exploits. The clip of the first chapter, "The Compleat Angler", was released on the 28th, as well as a description of the scene:
How does an ordinary bag of chocolate sweets become a symbol of sexual victory? As Joe and her experienced friend B embark on a train trip, they bet on how many men they can seduce on the ride. The grand prize is a delicious bag of chocolate sweets, and it soon becomes clear to Joe that in order to win, she needs to lure the prey into biting the hook like a skilled fisherman.
Watch the first clip below:
The press release for the film also mentioned this new genre that von Trier aims to introduce in Nymphomaniac.
Each chapter teaser is defined by a headline, a still and a short narrative that playfully unveils the multilayered universe of Nymphomaniac with which Lars von Trier wants to introduce a new film genre: Digressionism.
[Digress /dɪˈgrɛs, daɪ-/ verb: Depart from the main subject]
Without seeing the film or knowing much about its plot, we can realistically only speculate what the full idea of von Trier's digressionism is. "Depart from the main subject" could mean any number of things -- my guess is that it has something to do with the narrative. Do protagonists come and go throughout it? Will Joe even see us through the whole story? Will multiple subplots be piled on top of the main plot until it just -- falls away? Will the film even be about nymphomania by the end?
Here is the list of chapters and this promotional tableau vivant of the cast on the set of Nymphomania (click to enlarge). Maybe they will help you determine what von Trier's "digressionism" is?
Chapter 1 is The Compleat Angler
Chapter 2 is Jerome
Chapter 3 is Mrs. H
Chapter 4 is Delirium
Chapter 5 is The Little Organ School
Chapter 6 is The Eastern & Western Church (The Silent Duck)
Chapter 7 is The Mirror
Chapter 8 is The Gun
What do you make of all of this? Let us know what you think about Nymphomaniac, its marketing tactic, and von Trier's new genre, "digressionism", in the comments.
Links:
- Nymphomaniac website
- Lars von Trier Reveals Chapters and a New Genre in 'Nymphomaniac' -- FirstShowing
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