Begotten

Starring:Brian Salzberg, Donna Dempsey, Stephen Charles Barry, Daniel Harkins, Adolfo Vargas, Erik Slavin, Garfield White, James Gandia, Arthur Streeter, Michael Phillips
Director: E. Elias Merhige
Studio: World Artists
Product Type: DVD

Editorial Review:
Description
BEGOTTEN is the creation myth brought to life, the story of no less than the violent death of God and the (re)birth of nature on a barren earth. Astounding and baffling critics and audiences alike, BEGOTTEN was named one of the Ten Best Pictures of 1991 by Time Magazine. Time's Richard Corliss wrote: "Nobody will get through BEGOTTEN without being marked... BEGOTTEN is a spectacular one-of-a-kind (you wouldn't want there to be two), filmed in speckled chiaroscuro so that each image is a seductive mystery, a Rorschach test for the adventurous eye." In production notes for the film, director Merhige commented, "Each shot in the film went through hours of preparation to achieve the look you will experience when viewing... the etheral "pulse" that hypnotically permeates the film. It took over ten hours to re-photograph less than one minute of selected takes."

Description

BEGOTTEN is the creation myth brought to life, the story of no less than the violent death of God and the (re)birth of nature on a barren earth. Astounding and baffling critics and audiences alike, BEGOTTEN was named one of the Ten Best Pictures of 1991 by Time Magazine. Time's Richard Corliss wrote: "Nobody will get through BEGOTTEN without being marked... BEGOTTEN is a spectacular one-of-a-kind (you wouldn't want there to be two), filmed in speckled chiaroscuro so that each image is a seductive mystery, a Rorschach test for the adventurous eye." In production notes for the film, director Merhige commented, "Each shot in the film went through hours of preparation to achieve the look you will experience when viewing... the etheral "pulse" that hypnotically permeates the film. It took over ten hours to re-photograph less than one minute of selected takes."

Customer Reviews:

One of the best films ever.......2007-01-15

The first time I saw this movie I had taken some acid and and had went over to my friends house. My friend was watching this movie. It was at the start of the movie where God was cutting his guts out. I watched that part then my friend stopped the movie and said that I had seen enough. At that piont in time that scene was the most disturbing thing that I had ever seen. I couldnt stop thinking about it for weeks. Maybe it was because I was on acid, I really don't know. Anyway, about 8 or 9 years later I started going through this phase where I was trying to watch the gorriest, or most messed up movies that I could find. I watched the likes of Cannible Feroux, I stand alone, Irreversible, Funny Games,Ricky O, and so on. I had been looking for Begotten for a really long time and finally I found it. I watched the whole thing finally and I was amazed. I have never seen anything like it. That is one of the most amazing movies of all time. Again I kept thinking about it for like 2 weeks after I watched it but not because of God cutting his guts out but because of how deep it was. This movie should be required watching for everyone going to film school or planning to make a movie, then anyone planning to make a piece of garbage like Showgirls or Your friends and neighbors or even Who's that girl may reconsider.

independant surrealistic bliss.......2006-09-24

this film is absolutely astounding. it felt as if i were watching a nightmare sucked right out of someone's head (i recieved the same feeling the first time i watched lynch's earaserhead, though both were some of the first surreal/arthouse films i had seen at that time)

the two main hightlights of the film were, of course, its gritty & "old fashioned" camera style & the other was the sound, which were absolutely superb.

the only con out of my pro's was that it felt about 10-15 minutes too long, maybe I need to watch it again to see if thats true to me.

the film is definately not for the younger audience, hell its not meant for most adults, (hence the independence) it wasnt about sitting around with family & friends with a bowl of popcorn to get"ooh" & "ahh" responses. It is made the same way an artist paints canvas,its not meant for everyone to enjoy, who knows what it all means, in fact who cares. art was never meant to make sense in the first place. I'm sure merhige had no intentions whatsoever in making this a crowd pleaser. It was simply a dark yet beautiful piece of art made by an artist.

note: not recommended but a good film to watch on acid, depending on your mood, but that could go for any surreal film, or any film that matter, just depends on how much acid you take, but hey, ive said too much already....

boring.......2006-08-02

I wish I would have rented it from somewhere instead of spending my money. Does anyone want my copy? [9/7-I gave the copy away]

Not all it's cracked up to be.......2006-07-04

It's midly interesting, but way too long to have to watch the grainy black-and-white ultra-high contrast image. In the extra features, it is discussed how it took HOURS to achieve this effect; hours that could have been better spent. It's not nearly as esoteric or surrealistic as it purports to be; and certainly not enough to warrant the price it's going for.

An expierence too say the least.......2006-04-30

Wow this movie is insane. First off I do love this movie and do not find it boring one bit, I even thought it was a little short. If you do decided to enter Begotten I suggest the first time you watch it you dont try and make any sense of it and just go with it. There are characters and there is meaning but its mostly what you expierence during the film. As for the meaning I think its about the creation of life and death kind of like the begining of the world. Maybe im wrong, Im sure there are other ideas or meanings of what this film is about and even one true meaning. But im not so interesed in knowing because its the expierence that will get you too love this insanity. The movie wasent as disturbing as I thought it would be, The first scene being the most. And you do get some brutal death scenes and other Extremely wierd stuff. I think its amazing that the directer and crew could put such a rare peice of genuius in such a bizzare film. It was funny too see in the theatrical trailer of Begotten a review of the film saying " Makes Eraserhead look like Ernest Saves Christmas" haha I dont agree with that at all but its still funny and I could understand it. Anyway if you like your cinema beyond normal and totally out there purchase Begotten now.

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