This is a very artistic movie by Lars Von Trier.   The movie literally started with a black screen with only the sound of rain hitting metal and opening onto a fully clothed body lying in an alley. 

I was pleasantly surprised to see Stellan Skarsgard as the celibate man Seligman who rescued adult main female lead Joe (Charlotte Gainsbourg) who was left in an alley in the rain after a vicious beating by an old boyfriend.   Seligman listened to her story all night that she narrated from her childhood to adulthood.   Her memories stopped several times so Seligman could comment on her experiences, ask questions, or answer questions.  These were the peaceful, non-violent scenes when his opinions were translated into beautiful cinematography.

Christian Slater was great as Joe’s doctor father who spent a great deal of outdoor time with his daughter when she was little, teaching her about trees (his hobby).   She was also going to school to study medicine later on but gave it up.   Again, peaceful, non-violent times.  However, her mother was there only for a few minutes during the movie and basically disappeared.     

As a young girl Joe requested her first sex with a neighbor Jerome (Shia LaBoeuf), who came back into her life years later as her boss with whom she again had sex and a baby.  

I did not like the idea of Joe (Stacy Martin) and her girlfriend as young unchaperoned teenage girls participating in sex with men.   The girl who had sex with the most men on a train was rewarded with a bag of candy as the prize.  Why she and her girl friend had so much time by themselves was not explained.

As an adult, she also had sex with several strangers as well as K a sadist (Jamie Bell).  Joe (Charlotte Gainsbourg) was so obsessed with orgasm and physical sex that she damaged her own genitals when she got older from overuse. 

Joe’s character was truly a nymphomaniac who left her toddler alone to go meet her sadist.   The baby would have fallen off their balcony if not for the father coming home just in time.   She ended up giving the baby away.    She was a true nymphomaniac addicted to sex at any cost, not like the movie Diary of a Nymphomaniac that I reviewed in 2017.     

Mrs. H (Uma Thurman) was the screaming wife of one of young Joe’s lovers.  L (Willem Dafoe) was a guy who hired older Joe as a money collector in which she tortured people with their own truths.   There were other great actors playing other parts also like Connie Nielsen, Udo Kier, Caroline Goodall, Cyron Melville, etc.   During the commentary, Stacy Martin (young Joe) said that there were stand-ins for the sex scenes.  

The combined vol. 1 & 2 Extended Editor’s Cut was 5.5 hours long total, and I watched both volumes to see whether Joe would change her behavior or her life, which she did not.   But Joe did survive to the end.   The NC-17-rated movie was violent and graphic.   However, there is an unexpected twist at the end that fades into darkness.  

Written by Rosa L. Griffin