Actor Stellan Skarsgard attends a photocall for "Nymphomaniac" at Soho Hotel on February 21, 2014 in London, England.; Credit: Tim P. Whitby/Getty Images
Lars Von Trier’s Nymphomaniac: Vol. I is part of the writer-director’s two-part series, and tells the story of a self-professed nymphomaniac who winds up in the care of an older bachelor.
The film stars Charlotte Gainsbourg as a woman recounting erotic stories from her youth and Stellan Skarsgård as a charming older man who rescues her after finding her beaten in an alley.
Von Trier takes viewers on a psychosexual journey, linking protagonist Joe’s sexual exploits to art, music, and fly fishing. Stacy Martin, who plays the sexually-charged young Joe recounts a steady stream of lovers and sexual adventures, drawing comparisons and parallels from Skarsgård’s Seligman.
Though the film is incredibly explicit, there’s depth behind Von Trier’s sexual storytelling, Seligman and Joe delve into familial relations and walking the thin line between childhood and adulthood.
Nymphomaniac Vol. I, out March 21, is only the beginning – the series ends with Nymphomaniac Vol. II, due to be released in April.
How does a film walk the line between near-pornographic explicitness and artistic and emotional depth? How did the actors prepare for the intensity of these roles?
Guest:
Stellan Skarsgård, actor, producer, and co-star of Lars Von Trier’s Nymphomaniac series