Search - Begotten on DVD

MPAA Rating: NR Content Advisory: Graphic Violence Movie Release: 1991 DVD Release: 02/20/2001 Format: DVD - Black and White SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 1 hrs 18 mins Studio: World Artists Members Wishing: 29 Genres: Avant-garde / Experimental, Supernatural Horror, Surrealist Film

A "metaphysical splatter film" that was praised by Susan Sontag as "one of the 10 most important films of modern times," Begotten is a very grainy, often powerful work of experimental cinema which seems to land somewhere between David Lynch's surreal Eraserhead and James Broughton's heavily symbolic Dreamwood. The film opens with God Killing Himself: a man in rags slicing into his own belly as he spews dark fluid and oozes filth. Mother Earth emerges, or is born, from this excoriation and travels to a primeval forest. There she gives birth to Son of Earth-Flesh on Bone: a quivering man-child. The two are found by a tribe of faceless, druid-like figures dressed in rags, and though mother and child are at first revered, they are finally tortured, dismembered, and buried by the tribe. From their grave, life begins, and flora emerges from the wasteland. Filmed on black & white reversal film and then re-photographed onto a black & white negative, E. Elias Merhige's stark, grainy images of a squirming, oozing, mythical Creation are not easy to digest or to forget. Merhige's own experimental theater troupe, Theaterofmaterial, performs throughout. ~ Anthony Reed, All Movie Guide

Brian Salzberg - God Killing Himself
Donna Dempsey - Mother Earth
Stephen Charles Barry - Son of Earth-Flesh on Bone

E. Elias Merhige's Begotten makes for creepy, interesting viewing on DVD. Often compared to David Lynch's Eraserhead, Begotten is actually even more abstract. This 1.33:1 full-frame DVD presentation seethes with bizarre, shape-shifting black-and-white imagery. Viewers are left to puzzle over exactly what they're seeing, as hooded figures, mangled body parts, and background images float around the screen creating fascination or disgust. The audio isn't as striking, which is probably inherent in the film itself rather than the fault of the digital transfer. Mostly comprised of heartbeats, hissing, and gurgling, =Begotten's audio track takes a backseat to the nightmarish eye candy.
The disc's supplemental material is a bit lacking, especially since it fails to convey adequately how Merhige manipulated the images to create the film's look. Production notes take a stab at relaying that information, but are extremely limited in scope -- a featurette or director's commentary would have been most welcome. The stills gallery isn't worth much more than a brief glimpse since the images are taken directly from the movie, and they work better in the context of the film. The scene access menus use only captions and chapter number to display the movie's 56 chapters, making it a bit hard to return to favorite scenes; still frames would have helped tremendously. Still, Begotten makes for an interesting experience on DVD. ~ Tim DiGravina, All Movie Guide