Begotten (1991)

67% of critics liked it
(6 reviews)
65% of users liked it
(5,635 ratings)

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… More 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, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 18 min.
Directed By: E. Elias Merhige
Genres: Art House & International, Cult Movies, Drama, Horror, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Special Interest

In Theaters: Jan 1, 1989 Wide
On DVD: Feb 20, 2001

Critic Reviews

Rob Gonsalves, eFilmCritic.com
Plays too much like an earnest repertory-theater group going through various bizarro configurations.
Jeremy Heilman, MovieMartyr.com
A passion play that wavers between amateur-hour incompetence and an undeniable directorial vision.
Michael W. Phillips, Jr., Goatdog's Movies
I have said 'I have never seen anything like it' about other films, but it has never applied to something so entirely alien as this.
Phil Hall, Wired
Brilliant experimental feature, truly shocking and original.

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

Coxxie M

God takes the shape of a woman and guts herself with a scalpel while breathing like Michael Myers then shits herself and we get to watch shit run down her leg for 3 minutes? how the hell could the world's most gifted filmmaker possibly show a scene after that and shock us?
Greg S

God disembowels himself with a straight razor, among other metaphysical atrocities in this nearly narrativeless 70 minute experimental feature where each frame of film has been painstakingly transformed and distressed to create a starkly beautiful chiaroscuro universe. A very hard… More
God disembowels himself with a straight razor, among other metaphysical atrocities in this nearly narrativeless 70 minute experimental feature where each frame of film has been painstakingly transformed and distressed to create a starkly beautiful chiaroscuro universe. A very hard film to rate; a successful, if painfully overlong, visual experiment, but the overall effect is almost the opposite of entertainment.
Pierluigi P

A tedious pseudo intellectual experiment that would have worked better as a short film.
Edward S

It's not much, but damn does it leave a hell of an impression. An exercise in the power of images and an attempt to use dissonant sensations to create a desired experience. Job well done.
Francisco G

A very interesting meditative movie shot only with two colours, black and white that requires a lot of patience to appreciate but is indeed unique and surreally beautiful on it's brutality. The type of movie you only watch once in a lifetime.
Dimitris S

A brilliant collage in my opinion!For the record,there's hardly any comprehensive information regarding the incontrollable dimension this film portrays,it's almost like nightmares/dreams joined a pact and the real world is entering oblivion! Whatever was Merhige's… More
A brilliant collage in my opinion!For the record,there's hardly any comprehensive information regarding the incontrollable dimension this film portrays,it's almost like nightmares/dreams joined a pact and the real world is entering oblivion! Whatever was Merhige's intention,to vanquish religion,to narrow the ethical sensitivities,any achievement would be small in front of his original,silent "page of madness".