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Begotten (film)

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Begotten
1995 VHS cover art
Directed byE. Elias Merhige
Written byE. Elias Merhige
Produced byE. Elias Merhige
Starring
  • Brian Salzberg
  • Donna Dempsey
  • Stephen Charles Barry
CinematographyE. Elias Merhige
Edited byNoëlle Penraat
Music byEvan Albam
Production
companies
Theatreofmaterial
William Markle Associates (sound)[1]
Distributed byWorld Artists Home Video
Release date
Running time
72 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish (intertitles)
Budget$33,000 (est.)

Begotten is a 1989 American experimental horror film[2] written and directed by E. Elias Merhige. It stars Brian Salsberg, Donna Dempsey, Stephen Charles Barry and members of Merhige's theatre company Theatreofmaterial. Its unconventional narrative depicts the suicide of a godlike figure and the births of Mother Earth and the Son of Earth who travel across a barren landscape. The film was originally conceived as an experimental theatre work with dance and live music, but later adapted for film as a cost-effective alternative. Begotten features a degraded and gritty visual style, envisioned by Merhige as an artifact damaged and degraded by time and wear, and has no dialogue; inspired by documentary footage on the aftermath of the bombing of Hiroshima.

After it was completed, Merhige spent two years trying to find a distributor. The film debuted at the Montreal World Film Festival, and later screened at the San Francisco International Film Festival, with the film critics Tom Luddy and Peter Scarlet in attendance. The two brought it to the attention of the critic Susan Sontag, whose enthusiastic praise was instrumental to its eventual release. It was largely ignored by mainstream critics.

The film thematises the origins of life within religion and mysticism. Writers and scholars have described a multitude of mythic and religious motifs present in the film. These include connections to Christianity, Celtic mythology, Druidism, Egyptian Mythology, and Slavic paganism. Motifs from alchemy, gnosticism, and hermeticisms have also been identified. Some writers have argued that the film reflects the cycle of life and mankind's antagonistic relationship with nature. Other themes identified in the film include the Nietzchian view of order and chaos, societal norms, and the perception of reality.

Begotten gained popularity over several festival screenings, a limited home media release, and online circulation. Since its release, it has become a popular cult film. Its unique visuals and subversive narrative have influenced several avant-garde film-makers, visual artists, and musicians. It was the first in The Begotten Cycle, a series of short film sequels created by Merhige that explore different aspects of creation myths and mysticism: Din of Celestial Birds (2006) and Polia & Blastema: A Cosmic Opera (2022).

Plot

[edit]

Inside a dilapidated shack, a robed, masked figure disembowels himself with a straight razor. He soon dies after cutting open his abdomen and removing his internal organs. A woman in white then emerges from his mutilated remains. She brings the corpse to arousal, and uses his semen to impregnate herself. Time passes, and the woman, now visibly pregnant, stands beside the coffin of the man. She gives birth to a fully-matured yet malformed man and abandons him in the wilderness.

After wandering across the barren landscape, he encounters a tribe of nomads who seize him by his umbilical cord. Upon being captured, he vomits part of his organs, which the nomads excitedly accept as gifts. He is then led by the nomads through a rocky hillside, stopping later to torture and throw him into a fire pit where he burns to death. He is then resurrected by his mother, who comforts him before they continue together across the desert. The nomads later appear and attack him as his mother stands nearby in a trance-like state.

The nomads soon turn their attention to her, knocking her to the ground. They sexually assault and murder her, committing sexual acts with her corpse while her son lies injured nearby. Once the nomads are satisfied, they leave and several large-robed figures arrive to carry away her mutilated remains. They travel to a gorge where they harvest mounds of clay into small jars. The robed men then cut the mother's body into small pieces, crushing her bones and then placing them into the jars. With this act complete, they abduct and murder her son, repeating the same process and burying the jars into the crust of the earth. Over time, the burial site becomes lush with flowers and crops as a montage of photographs depicting the robed god is shown. In the final scene, mother and son appear, wandering through a forest as the cycle begins again.

Cast

[edit]
  • Brian Salzberg as God Killing Himself:
An androgynous entity who commits suicide by mutilating and disemboweling himself. He is also the father of Mother Earth and Son of Earth.
A female entity. She is the mother of Son of Earth, whom she conceived via artificial insemination.
  • Stephen Charles Barry as Son of Earth (Captioned as Flesh on Bone):
The deformed, convulsing son of Mother Earth and God Killing Himself.

Members of Merhige's theater company Theatreofmaterial – which included Adolpho Vargas, Arthur Streeter, Daniel Harkins, Erik Slavin, James Gandia, Michael Phillips, and Terry Andersen – are credited as the Nomads and Robed Figures.[1][3]

Production

[edit]

Development

[edit]

Begotten was written, produced, and directed by Merhige,[4][5] who had studied at State University of New York, developing an interest in the theater after attending several performances while in Manhattan. According to Merhige, he was intrigued by the highly visualized form of storytelling, which provoked what he described as "an otherworldly response". He was particularly interested in the performances of the Japanese butoh dance troupe Sankai Juku,[6] who were known for blending grotesque imagery with a transgressive dance style.[7] Attending these performances, Merhige was struck by the degree of interconnectivity among its core members—knowing everything about one another and engaging in a more personal level of interaction.[6] In 1985, Merhige founded Theatreofmaterial,[a][9] a small experimental theatre production company based in New York City, intending to create a similar group dynamic.[6][10]

Merhige conceived Begotten in 1983,[b] describing its genesis as "a vision that moved through me like a great storm".[14] It was developed into a story format after Merhige suffered an episode of sleep paralysis. The sensation of "feel[ing] like you are dying" and being unable to move provided Merhige with creative inspiration, and after the symptoms subsided, he began writing[14] in an attempt to express his own views and beliefs.[15][c] The project was originally written as a dance or theatre production,[18][19][20] with elements of opera and tragedy.[14] Merhige envisioned the production as an immersive experience, with the sets built around its audience and performed with a live orchestral accompaniment.[14][18] After discovering that it would cost a quarter of a million dollars to produce, Merhige abandoned the idea.[18][19] Merhige later decided to implement the concept into a motion picture[18] after experimenting with his camera.[14] This change in format allowed Merhige the opportunity to document Theatreofmaterial's work, as many of its performers were transitioning outside the company to pursue other interests.[21]

Writing and pre-production

[edit]

The writing for Begotten was all Vision material, or whatever you want to call it, and I used those parts that scared me, or that I just couldn't understand—the parts that stuck with me for days and forced me to wonder where within me did this come from? A tableau of the unknown was important to me. Then it was a matter of arranging this material as a myth. That was important, too. It began as a personal myth and ended as a collective myth, a myth of everyone involved in making the film.[21]

Merhige on the script's collaborative nature

Merhige developed the script with members of Theatreofmaterial, who worked as both cast and crew during production. Merhige and Theatreofmaterial strove to evoke what the director called "emotions on the fringes", avoided, they felt, by most directors and performers.[21] Merhige also consulted television writer and film historian Tom Gunning for the film's story.[1][3][22] In preparation for scriptwriting, Merhige and members from Theatreofmaterial performed ritual breathing exercises. Describing the process of "breath[ing] to the point of hysteria", Merhige states that the group followed up this by discussing these experiences, filtering these emotions into something he could replicate for the film. He then brought portions of the script to the cast members and began a process of rehearsals, followed by group discussion and reflection on the material as it took shape.[21] Merhige, a former painter and visual artist,[12][23] was heavily influenced by the fine arts, with the impressionist and symbolist paintings of the 19th century a primary source of influence. Impressionist art, according to Merhige, had a profound impact on him crafting "a world that existed between painting and dreams".[13] Paintings by Hieronymus Bosch, Edvard Munch, and Francisco Goya were additional influences in the film's early developmental stages.[23] The philosophical concepts of Antonin Artaud and Friedrich Nietzsche, which Merhige felt had not been fully explored on film, served as an influence on the film's story.[18][24]

The first draft was completed in six months.[18] Over four-and-a-half months, the group expanded the script's abstract ideas into more concrete, enactable scenes, and committed to extensive rehearsals during this period. Merhige has said that these rehearsals were focused on group cohesion rather than precise choreography, enabling the actors to get 'in tune' with their characters.[21] Merhige strove to imbue the film with the tribal and ritual aspects associated with alchemy and hermeticism. To achieve this, he and the cast experimented with hypnosis and meditation.[25]

Begotten was made on a budget of around $33,000 ($79,000 inflation-adjusted[26]).[16] The film was partially funded by Merhige's grandfather, who had set Merhige up with a trust fund for medical school.[d] Additional costs were covered by Merhige from the income he received while working multiple jobs as a special effects artist.[18][27] Writing on the distinction of such independent projects, Matthew Edwards comments that, by financing independently, filmmakers like Merhige were allowed more creative freedom when developing their ideas.[29]

Filming

[edit]

Principal photography began in the mid-to-late 1980s[18] and lasted for a period between three and five-and-a-half months.[21] Merhige assumed multiple roles during the production, including cinematography and special effects,[18][30][31] and used a 16 mm Arriflex camera on a Kodak Plus-X, a black-and-white reversal film stock.[10][18][32] Most of the film crew were Theatreofmaterial members, though some film industry professionals became involved during production. This included costume designer Celia Bryant, who had worked on the set of Greased Lightning (1977) and I, the Jury (1982);[33][34] and special effects artist Dean Mercil,[35] who started his career with the 1985 film The Oracle.[36][37] Some of Merhige's family assisted with production, including his brother David Merhige, who is credited as the film's as field coordinator.[1][3]

The opening passage, depicting God disemboweling himself and Mother Earth emerging from his remains, was filmed first.[27] Most of the film was shot at a construction site on the border between New York City and New Jersey, where Merhige was permitted to shoot for twenty days when construction crews were not working. Members of the construction site occasionally assisted the film crew by constructing landscapes when shots of mountains were needed.[2][18][19] The sequence of Son of Earth dragging himself across the desert was shot with a long-focus lens over hot sand, as Merhige comments, resulted in a mirage-like screen distortion.[38] According to Merhige, his collaboration with the actors of the film,[39] especially Stephen Barry was crucial to his vision for the film.[38]

Time-lapse photography of sunrises and sunsets were shot by the director,[2] who spent two days in the mountains near Santa Fe or Albuquerque, while additional sequences of plants sprouting from the earth were filmed from inside a large terrarium Merhige had constructed.[15][18] Merhige characterized the atmosphere during production as a powerful, almost ceremonial experience that was "life-changing" for those involved.[18][40] As filming concluded, Merhige had difficulties moving on from the project, describing a sense of mourning and the loss of an emotional high.[15][41]

Cinematic style

[edit]
A masked woman standing beside an upright coffin
The film's decayed aesthetic was achieved through extended processing using an optical printer. Each minute required eight to ten hours of labor to process.

The cinematic style of Begotten is dark, grungy, and visceral; deliberate distortions in perspective and image quality were used to create an ancient and otherworldly appearance.[42][43] It is described as "a cinematic Rorschach test of grotesque, imagery" and "a feature-length fever dream".[44][45] Interested in crafting imagery through analog format,[15] Merhige had envisioned a decayed look for the film as if it were an artifact damaged and degraded by time and wear.[46] Merhige set out his goals when creating its visual style by saying:

I wanted Begotten to look, not as if it were from the twenties, not even as if it were from the nineteenth century, but as if it were from the time of Christ, as if it were a cinematic Dead Sea Scroll that had been buried in the sands, a remnant of a culture with customs and rites that no longer apply to this culture, yet are somewhere underneath it, under the surface of what we call "reality."[47][48]

Filmic influences for Begotten's visual style identified by Merhige include The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920), Blood of the Beasts (1949), Seven Samurai (1954), and The Act of Seeing with One's Own Eyes (1971).[49] He also listed the cinematic works of Andrzej Munk, Sergei Eisenstein, and Luis Buñuel, all known for their unconventional style, as additional points of influence.[4] Other possible influences identified by critics include David Lynch's Eraserhead (1977),[50] Dimitri Kirsanoff's Ménilmontant (1926), and Tobe Hooper's The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974), as well as tribal art, ethnographic studies, and the paintings of Piero della Francesca.[10] Visual underminings from 1930s horror films, such as intertitles, was also commented on by David Annwn Jones, who wrote that it was utilized to express its own set of evolving visual ideas and techniques.[51]

Before and during Begotten's shooting, Merhige experimented with different types of film to achieve the look he wanted. In one experiment, he ran an unexposed negative against sandpaper to scratch its surface before shooting on the damaged reel,[18] and in another Merhige modified the film emulsion and frame rate to create a staggered time and motion effect.[52] Footage was deliberately shot overexposed, to reduce the details of the image.[e] Unsatisfied with the results, Merhige decided on an optical printer for further processing.[15] He was unable to find an optical printer priced within his budget, so he built one himself. The printer was constructed in eight months[i] with spare parts from camera stores and special effects houses where he had worked.[18][27][53] Merhige had worked as a special effects designer for various companies, including a brief job for a Disney television series that involved the animation technique of rotoscoping. This experience gave him the technical knowledge needed to handle the film's post-production and visual effects on his own.[12][18][27]

The post-production process was time-consuming, with each minute of footage generated by the optical printer taking between eight and ten hours to complete.[27][32][53] Each frame of raw footage was fed into the optical printer and projected onto an unused film negative; multiple photographic filters, including color and neutral-density filters were used to alter the image.[54] Developing the Kodak Plus-X film stock presented a significant challenge during post-production. Unprocessed reels required a dust-free environment, as the Kodak film stock was notorious for its fragility, and each reel was handled with protective gloves to avoid unintended imperfections.[55] Three months of extensive tests were implemented during photographic processing.[56] When a test shot was sent to the laboratory for processing, minuscule mistakes in calibration sometimes ruined the shot and the process had to be restarted.[27] Merhige began asking laboratories if they could adjust their usual development procedures to his custom specifications, but was repeatedly turned away. Eventually, he found a small studio willing to accommodate his requests: Kin-O-Lux Labs, owned by Fred Schreck.[f] Merhige quickly developed a friendship with Schreck, who allowed the director to use the laboratory to develop the footage and taught him how to develop footage by hand.[8] During the editing process, Merhige enlisted his father's input on certain scenes, stating that his father was "very open-minded" to the project.[57] Editor and filmmaker Aram Avakian, whom Merhige had become acquainted with, also supported and encouraged Merhige to complete the project.[9] Results of the "rephotography" process removed almost all of the gray midtones from the visible spectrum, leaving only extreme contrasts of black and white on the film reel.[15] Merhige used similar "rephotography" techniques for segments of his next film, Shadow of the Vampire (2001).[58][59]

Music and sound design

[edit]

Begotten has no dialogue or text, apart from its opening intertitles.[ii] Merhige chose to make the film silent after viewing documentary footage of the impact and effects of the bombing of Hiroshima. According to Merhige, what struck him the most was the complete silence of the victims.[62] In 2024, Merhige recalled:

All of the victims had this look of complete calm and just calm astonishment as they looked millions of miles past the lens of the camera. I remember[ed] thinking that, when life becomes that extreme... that terrifying. When you see things that you can't unsee, and experience things that no one can relate to on the entire planet... you're really left with this spooky, terrifying silence.[62]

Intending to achieve a similar atmosphere,[62] Merhige envisioned the film as set "[in] a time that predates spoken language" in which "communication is made on a sensory level".[35][63] Frustration with storytelling through exposition and the limitations dialogue imposed upon narration also contributed to the lack of dialogue in Begotten.[64]

The film score and sound effects were composed and mixed by Evan Albam, who, before working on Begotten, had not composed professionally. Merhige and Albam spent a year working on the soundtrack, crafting the right balance of visual and audio cues.[18] The music has been described as ambient and dirge-like, and enhanced by natural sounds such as bird calls, insect noises, and the sounds of a heartbeat.[iii] Sounds effects mixed into the film score are repetitive and often looped, differing from the normal synchronized sound. Writing for the academic journal Film International, Ted Knighton argues that this "incomplete" feel to the sound was intentional and touches upon the themes of creation. As Knighton writes, Begotten is "not a film of an evolving world, it is [a] film as an evolving world".[52] Scholar Andrew M. Whelan writes, the ambient and unconventional score of Begotten shares the same thematic style as power electronics, a form of noise music noted for its lack of conventional rhythm, provokes strong reactions from both listeners and critics in a manner the reminiscent of Merhige's film.[66]

In 2016, Merhige began work on a remaster of the film for a limited-edition vinyl release set for 2017.[67] Later that year, former March Violets band member-turned-composer Tom Ashton announced that he was working with Merhige on an "audio reimagining" of the soundtrack. As of 2025, there have been no new updates on its outcome.[68]

Release

[edit]

Distribution

[edit]

Once editing for Begotten was completed, Merhige spent two years trying to find a distributor willing to release it.[18][19][69] Merhige screened the film to possible distributors but most refused as it did not fit into a specific genre, making it difficult to market.[70] He said that at first "everyone laughed at me, saying 'We don't know what this is...'"[71] Merhige took it to several museums; only two showed interest, but he turned both down as he felt that they were not the right choice. As a result, he became very protective of the film, and only screened it to people he felt he could trust.[70]

To gain more exposure, Merhige created a video master of the film, sending copies to various film organizations, including the Pacific Film Archive. Merhige was contacted a month later by the curator of the archive, who requested permission to screen the film.[72] Through these private screenings, film critics Tom Luddy and Peter Scarlet became fascinated by its visual style.[10][73] Although uncertain how it might be received, they put together several screenings at the San Francisco International Film Festival followed by a showing for the critic Susan Sontag.[iv] Sontag held a private screening at her home[g] and became Begotten's leading advocate, and was instrumental setting up its eventual theatrical release.[18][19][20] Sontag took a copy to the Berlin Film Festival where she informally screened it to interested cinéastes, describing it as a masterpiece.[76] During one of her screenings, it was supposedly viewed by director Werner Herzog, whom Merhige said was "very supportive of the film".[18][69]

Theatrical screenings

[edit]
The exterior of a cinema
The US premiere of Begotten occurred at the 1990 San Francisco International Film Festival, where it was screened at the Japantown Kabuki 8 multiplex (pictured in 2005).[77]

Begotten did not attain either wide or limited theatrical release. However, it became a popular underground film, as a film released outside of conventional commercial channels, especially one with subversive or transgressive content.[78][79] Lacking a standard theatrical release, Merhige booked one-off screenings at various film festivals and art museums.[80]

The earliest public screening took place at the Goethe-Institut in Montreal on October 24, 1989,[h] as part of the Montreal World Film Festival.[83][84][85] Strong reactions of those in attendance were reported, as The Gazette described a majority of the audience as "too stunned by what they'd seen to react".[86] It had three screenings from May 5–7 at the 1990 San Francisco International Film Festival,[77] marking its premiere in the United States.[10] It was screened later that year at the Museum of Modern Art,[v] on October 22 with Merhige introducing the film, followed by a post-screening discussion with the audience.[90] On March 22, 1991, it was screened in New Mexico's Center for Contemporary Arts, with Merhige in attendance.[92] New York City's Film Forum also screened the film on June 5, 1991.[vi] It was exhibited at the Stadtkino Theater in Vienna in 1992, as a part of a retrospective of American independent cinema titled "Unknown Territories",[94] and at the Berlin International Film Festival in the early to mid – 1990s.[18] Its final screenings that decade were in 1996 at "The Alternative Screen: A Forum for Independent Film Exhibition & Beyond",[95] and American Cinematheque's "Alternate Screen" series.[96]

Since the mid-2010s, Begotten has appeared at multiple film festivals. The first took place in October 2014 at Brooklyn's Spectacle Theater as a part of its annual "Spectober" film event.[97] That same month, the independent arts venue Horse Hospital screened the film, accompanied by a live, improvised music score by band The Begotten.[98] Later, it appeared at the third annual horror film festival SpectreFest on October 28, 2015, which was followed by an onstage discussion with Merhige.[99][100] It was shown at the Music Box Theatre in Midtown Manhattan on September 25, 2016, during its 25th Anniversary celebration, where it was screened from Merhige's personal 16mm print. It was presented as a double-feature alongside the director's other film Shadow of the Vampire, and followed by a Q&A with Merhige.[101] The film was later screened at the Short Film Festival in London on January 8, 2017, where it was shown again in its original 16mm format, accompanied by a live music score from the film.[102] It was screened on October 17, 2019, at the Rice Media Center, as part of a celebration of "Low-Fi" Analog film series.[103] It had its more recent screenings on March 29, 2022, at Cinemateca Portuguesa in Lisbon, on November 3rd at Goldsmiths, University of London, and in 2023 at the L'Etrange Festival [fr].[104][105][106]

Home media and bootlegs

[edit]
Topside of a VHS tape
Begotten was released on VHS in 1995. The film is currently out of print, though widely bootlegged.

Begotten received a limited home media distribution after its theatrical release;[107] copies of the film are currently out of print and difficult to acquire on secondhand markets.[35] Merhige had not intended the film to be released on home video, initially stating that he disliked the concept of home video. He eventually changed his mind and felt that the original soundtrack mix—the sound of with which he had not been happy with—, could be enhanced through the medium.[49] The film was briefly released on VHS[18][108] in 1995 by World Artists Home Video,[vii] and was banned in Singapore due to its graphic content.[112] It was given a limited DVD release by World Artists on February 20, 2001,[113] and included a souvenir booklet, the original theatrical trailer, rare and never-before-seen movie stills, and production photos.[114][115] World Artists' release of the film was listed by Film Comment's Gavin Smith as the ninth of his "Top 10 DVD Picks".[116] However, Merhige has expressed his disappointment with this release, citing poor image resolution.[117]

Due to the film's scarcity on home media, fans began to circulate copies via bootleg copies and digital piracy.[19][118] These unlicensed copies helped the film to gain more exposure, and soon overtook legal means of distribution in volume.[119][120] The film is typically encountered via ambiguously legal methods, a situation which—according to Mathijs and Sexton—fostered a "copy-cult" that enhanced its cult status.[121] Over the years, Merhige has turned down several offers by film companies to distribute the film, citing cheap and inadequate restoration methods.[117]

Restoration attempts for Begotten began in 2016. In July, Merhige announced a collaboration between the Pennsylvania-based CinemaArts on a 4K restoration to be released on Blu-ray in the fall of that year,[117][122] coinciding with a 25th-anniversary screening at Music Box Theatre in Midtown Manhattan.[74][101] Describing this restoration process as meticulous and pushing the digital and analog technology to its limits. However, Merhige states that he only intends to release the film once the restoration and upscaling is completed.[117] As of 2025, Begotten is still awaiting an optical restoration and upscaling from its original 16mm format.[123]

Reception

[edit]
A photo of Susan Sontag
Susan Sontag (pictured in 1979) was one of the main advocates for Begotten and helped ensure the film's release.

Begotten has received little to no attention from film critics, with most mainstream reviewers ignoring the film entirely.[35] Merhige was initially afraid that audiences might misunderstand certain parts, or the entire film altogether, "When I finished the film, I felt sure it would be misunderstood and consigned to the underground again. I see it as a very serious, very beautiful work of art, but when it was first finished, I was always thinking, 'What if everybody just laughs? What if they don't see anything in it?' There is always that possibility."[70] Although critical reactions to the film were polarized, Merhige has said that he is grateful for the film helping to start his career.[124]

Limited reviews of the film were mixed to positive, with some critics praising the film's unique visual style and resonating themes, while commenting on its graphic violence.[125] Sontag praised it, referring to it as "a metaphysical splatter film"[64] and "one of the 10 most important films of modern times".[126][127] In his 1991 review, Joe Kane of the New York Daily News praised the film's minimalist soundtrack, visuals, and its subversion of traditional narrative structure.[45] Newsday's Jon Anderson awarded it his highest score of four stars, lauding what he felt was its deconstruction of the barriers of dream and reality, bestowing additional acclaim towards its exploration of the human condition through its unconventional style.[128] Marc Savlov from the Austin Chronicle called the film "Experimental, haunting, dreamlike, and intentionally confounding", further writing on the film's grainy visuals, and horrific imagery as having an influence on the VHS sequences in The Ring series, and the works of Guy Maddin.[112] In their annual publication of The Video Movie Guide, the authors Mick Martin and Marsha Porter rated Begotten their highest score of four stars, praising its uniqueness, while commenting that viewers would either 'love or hate it'.[129]

Begotten's narrative and use of symbolism were highlighted by some critics. The Courier commented that the film "goes beyond convention" in its storytelling.[130] Jackson Hole News described the film as 'an accurate portrayal of the religious attitudes and ideas of the Dark Ages'.[131] Jonathan Rosenbaum at the Chicago Reader called it a "remarkable if extremely upsetting" film, applauding the originality of its visuals, but cautioned that its graphic violence was not for the squeamish or the faint of heart.[11] The Christian Science Monitor's, David Sterritt compared it favorably to Samuel Beckett's novel How It Is in regards to its symbolism and narrative structure. Sterritt also commented that the film's claustrophobic atmosphere and dark narrative were hard to stomach but equally entrancing overall.[132]

Although some critics were favorable towards its visuals and narrative themes, others have criticized these same elements, in addition to its brutal violence and running time.[133] Awarding it two and a half out of a possible four stars, John Kenneth Muir felt its narrative was better suited as a short subject rather than a feature film, despite its admittedly powerful imagery and originality.[133] Echoing this sentiment, the Polish journalist Bartłomiej Paszylk [pl] thought the first half was compelling and genuinely frightening, but further commented that its narrative could have been accomplished at a much shorter length.[134] Its graphic violence and visuals were criticized by Janet Maslin of The New York Times, who described it as "too grotesque" to engage its audience, regardless of its unique narrative.[4]

Thematic analysis

[edit]

Allegory of perception

[edit]

Begotten incorporates concepts such as audience perception and how imagery is interpreted, which Merhige uses to challenge the viewer's interpretation of the film.[70][135] The cryptic nature of the film's visuals, as Knighton comments, entices viewers to decipher the story and meaning behind Begotten, while also rebuffing such attempts. Knighton further notes that its thematic elements, including the sound and visual aspects, function as an invitation for viewers to participate in narratively 'putting the pieces together'.[52] Carolyn L. Kane, a visual communication's professor at Toronto Metropolitan University,[136] suggests that the degraded image quality of Begotten echoes the works of German photographer Thomas Ruff and the use of image noise. As Kane writes, incorporating such image noise into the film also doubles as an allegory for the viewer's uncertainty, in what she describes as "the hermeneutic of the image".[137]

The narrative structure of Begotten is experimental, often defying the conventions of film narrative.[43][138][139] Scenes are portrayed in a highly visualized style, leaving viewers to interpret and engage with the film individually.[140][43] Academic William Verrone comments that the experimental storyline invites a more active viewing experience from its audience.[48] Though the narrative of the film subverts traditional storytelling, Merhige states that most viewers have interpreted the film in a way he intended.[140]

Cycle of life

[edit]

Begotten, like most of Merhige's films,[16] explores narrative motifs on the cycle of life and death.[viii] The word Begotten; a form of the verb beget, meaning to "bring forth",[143][144] references theese themes;[43][81] Merhige himself has described the characters and events depicted in the film as metaphors for life and the struggle of mankind with itself and nature.[2] Likewise, scholars Penny Papageorgopoulou and Dimitris Charitos highlight the recurrent themes of life, death, and rebirth as a metaphor of humanity's antagonistic relationship with nature.[142] Some writers note the connections between the film's depiction of life and death and the cycle of the Earth. John Kenneth Muir defines the mistreatment of the Son of Earth as a symbol to mankind's "painful" toil of the earth to plant crops and the allusion to bringing forth life through great suffering. According to Muir, depictions of life, death, and renewal in Begotten are also symbolic motifs of the four seasons.[145]

Reality in Begotten is dominated by a cycle of life and death within a dying world.[ix] Its characters wander through a lifeless world of desolate landscapes under an atmosphere of cold indifference to their suffering.[43] Beginning with the disembowelment of a god-like being and the birth of Mother Earth, Paşcalău describes the sequence as "the cyclical nature of life, birth, and death".[43] Death and decay are the dominate force in Begotten. Son of Earth's journey through the desert, Merhige states, depicts the world is dying and in need of renewal.[146] Death is portrayed in the film as crucial to the restoration of life;[43] god-like beings die or are killed, with their deaths bringing forth new life.[141] At the film's conclusion, life on Earth is renewed through the burial of Mother Earth and her son as flowers grow from their graves.[147][148]

Creation mythology and religious motifs

[edit]
A depiction of Mother Earth, a goat and wolf breastfeeding human children (c. 1617)
A Roman painting of the Virgin Mary (c. 6th century or earlier)
In Begotten, the character Mother Earth is loosely based on the deity of the same name (left) and Mary, mother of Jesus (right).

A major theme and motif of Begotten is the thematization of creation myths within religion.[x] As Scott MacDonald states, the story of Merhige's film represents many popular attitudes towards the origins of life and religion at the time of its production.[2] Merhige, himself, has said that he deliberately crafted Begotten to appear as part of a mythology,[18][21] and incorporated certain mythic and existential themes into the film.[15][151] Since its release, writers have described a multitude of mythic and religious motifs present in the film. These include connections to Christianity, Celtic mythology, Druidism, Egyptian Mythology, and Slavic paganism.[4][57][149]

Creation myths, which include life generated from the corpse or dismembered parts of a primordial being,[43][152] are present in the opening scenes of the film.[150] The death of God Killing Himself becomes a form of self-sacrifice as Mother Earth emerges from and impregnates herself with his remains, which Paşcalău notes as a form of divine origin and transcendance.[43] The art historian Herbert S. Lindenberger suggests that the film's narrative is a reworking of early writings on creation mythology published by social anthropologist and folklorist Sir James Frazer, who intended to shock his readers with what Lindenberger described as "the savagery of their ancestors".[153] As Verrone writes, the storyline of Begotten was founded on ancient mythologies, recounting the birth of a divine entity and their subsequent suffering, describing the film's premise as "a cryptic passion play about Earth's birth and torture".[154] Marc Savlov echoed this statement and described the plot as an allegory for the death and rebirth of god.[112] Film Comment's Robert DiMatteo comments that a "God's eye" is applied to the film's human characters, with their movement and behavior comparable to insects; they move in "the way [that] ants move when they carry food up a hill".[10]

The primary characters of Begotten also function as mythic and religious archetypes.[155] Merhige has stated that Mother Earth and Son of Earth are partially based on the virgin Mary and Jesus.[141][153] Some writers have noted additional connections of Mother Earth to the Slavic mother goddess and Mother Nature.[2][4] Christian motifs are also incorporated into main characters.[xi] Lindenberger has described the motifs of Begotten, including Mother Earth and the rebirth of the "buried god", as symbolic mirrors to Christianity, with allusions to Mary and Christ and his resurrection.[141][153] According to Papageorgopoulou and Charitos, the main characters of Begotten are an amalgamation of Christian and Egyptian archetypes As they suggest, traits from the Egyptian gods Osiris, Isis, and Horus are ingrained within the characters of God Killing Himself, Mother Earth, and Son of Earth, respectively. Additional traits from the Christian concept of God were also listed.[156] Connections to the film and Christian and Egyptian beliefs, according to Papageorgopoulou and Charitos, are viewed through in the graphic death of God Killing Himself and the impregnation of Mother Earth are mirrors to the Osiris myth, specifically the disembowelment of Osiris and his wife's impregnation.[142]

Paşcalău identified elements of Buddhism, Hinduism, and Jainism within Begotten.[157] This is especially prevalent in recurrent motifs of death as the catalyst for the birth of new life; a symbol of the interconnected nature of all existence within the Hindu and Jain beliefs, specifically the concept of saṃsāra where all life is trapped in a cycle of reincarnation by karmic attachments.[157] Likewise, the divine suicide of God Killing Himself and the birth of new deities works, as Paşcalău states, mirrors the Buddhist teachings on suffering and non-being.[43]

Mystic and occult motifs

[edit]

Motifs within the alchemical, gnostic, and hermetic traditions permeate within Begotten;[55] Mathijs and Sexton note that Merhige "makes perhaps the most serious attempt to visualize elements of Dionysian orgiastic cultism".[107] By the 1980s New Age beliefs and practices including alchemy, western esotericism and hermeticism had grown in prominence.[158][159] Merhige was a follower of these philosophies,[160] and described Begotten and its creation as an "alchemical process.. [made to] bypass intellectual interpretation".[55] The performances of the cast are ritualistic and symbolic,[43] a trait that Merhige imbued into the film's narrative.[25]

Writing on the spiritual aspects of the film, Papageorgopoulou and Charitos highlight the hermetic and gnostic traditions contained within Begotten. The character Son of Earth, they note, has characteristics of several religious and mystic figures, including the gnostic concept of the Ogdoad or "Begotten One".[161] Film historian Gary D. Rhodes comments that Begotten is the ultimate example of an alchemical film, though he clarified that the film was "not cinema about alchemy, but alchemical cinema". The act of creating the film and manipulating the image, "through textural, visual, and photochemical means," according to Rhodes, mirrors the alchemical process of Chrysopoeia (transmution). Merhige has described the creation of the film's visuals as "akin to alchemical investigation," where his vision for the film involved the distillation of the image into something raw and primal. Each test, according to Merhige, helped him to uncover the visual language for the film as something "elemental and almost otherworldly."[55]

Social commentary

[edit]
A photo of Friedrich Nietzsche
Depictions of chaos and violence in Begotten have been compared to the Nietzchian views on tragedy.[24][162]

Some writers have described Begotten as a critique of society.[20][32] The depiction of violence, as one writer for Collider observes, is both a metaphor and reflection of humanity's treatment of itself and the world, "Merhige's story symbolizes what humanity could become, or rather what it always has been: a hateful, violent, and selfish society."[20] Similarly, film scholar Cristian Paşcalău writes that the film utilizes a highly symbolic narrative to explore the suffering, violence, and transformation of humanity.[43]

Begotten enacts several theories described in Nietzsche's 1872 work The Birth of Tragedy. Merhige had become aware of Nietzsche's work in his youth and was fascinated by the concept of tragedy being ingrained within all life.[24][162] The struggle between an ordered and chaotic reality, defined by terms Apollonian and Dionysian,[163] is interspersed throughout the film.[164] Humanity as a perpetrator of violence and destruction is also touched upon. As Jason Wood writes, the violence in the world of Begotten was primarily "the source of horror and decay".[165] In Merhige's view, the world is both ordered and also "suspended in a massive amount of chaos". As Merhige states, humanity functions as both a species of this order and chaos, having been a force that creates great beauty through innovation and creating chaos through the destruction of each other and the earth.[164]

Life in Begotten is dominated by a cruel and violent society, where Mother Earth and Son of Earth are viewed by humanity as a deviation of social norms and a focus of abuse. As Papageorgopoulou and Charitos write, the main characters are given anthromorphic and human characteristics, to evoke sympathy from the audience, while these inhuman traits are also the center of persecution by the Faceless Nomads.[142] Humanity in Begotten is personified by the Faceless Nomads, a representation of the physical and rational world. Violence perpetrated by these characters, Papageorgopoulou and Charitos argue, symbolizes humanity's segregation and the antagonistic relationship with themselves, animals, and nature.[166]

Legacy

[edit]

Aftermath and retrospective recognition

[edit]

Begotten had a profound impact upon Merhige[167] – providing the foundation for Merhige to continue his filmmaking career.[18][168] In the late 1990s Merhige was hired by the singer Marilyn Manson to direct music videos for his songs "Antichrist Superstar" and "Cryptorchid", the latter utilizing imagery incorporated from Begotten.[xii] Manson was a huge admirer of Begotten,[8][19][134] having the album's art designer P. R. Brown view the film for inspiration while developing cover art for the album.[171] When preparing to adapt the album into a music video, Manson personally contacted Merhige to ask him if he was willing to direct the music video for his song "Cryptorchid".[134] Manson has stated that Begotten was played on a loop during the entire recording for his album Antichrist Superstar.[71][172] A decade after Begotten's release, Merhige directed Shadow of the Vampire.[173] Nicolas Cage, a co-producer of Shadow of the Vampire, advocated hiring Merhige to direct the project based on his positive impression of Begotten.[xiii]

In a 2021 retrospective, Fangoria writer Soham Gadre said that, while Begotten remains a cinematic outsider, it has gradually achieved more exposure and recognition.[93] Since the start of the 21st century, Begotten has gained more prominence through its availability online and various streaming platforms such as YouTube helping it accumulate a wider audience.[19][20] Before its removal of graphic content, clips and photographs from the film began circulating on the blogging platform Tumblr and later on TikTok, exposing it to a new generation of fans.[19][177] It has gradually developed a cult following[xiv] and is considered by some to be the director's masterpiece.[35][124][180] It was listed in the 2011 book 100 Cult Films by Ernest Mathijs and Xavier Mendik[35] over Mendik's objections, as he felt that its following was too small to merit inclusion. However, it ultimately made it in because, to Mathijs, the film's following represented "the real sectarian cult; it's a very small committed group of people. It's like a secret handshake that goes worldwide. If you've seen Begotten, you're in that cult."[181]

Though initially mixed in his response to the film, Muir has since called Begotten "one of the most disturbing films ever made".[182] Industry professionals such as Chris Marker, Elijah Wood, and Dennis Jakob have expressed their admiration for the film.[160][183][184] Natalia Keogan of Paste described the film as one of the best and the most unsettling avante-garde films.[19] In his 2014 book Disorders of Magnitude: A Survey of Dark Fantasy, the author Jason V. Brock wrote that Begotten was his seventh favorite work of radio, film, or television production.[185]

Several publications selected it as one of the most disturbing films of all time, including Highsnobiety (2016),[186] Entertainment Weekly (2017),[126] Screen Rant (2019),[187] NME (2023),[188] Similarly, Begotten has been ranked in several top film lists, including number four by Joblo.com (2012),[189] and Nylon (2017);[190] number twenty by GamesRadar+ in 2018;[191] and number twenty-three by Complex Magazine in 2021.[192] Publications such as Collider and MovieWeb have placed it in their top avant-garde/experimental films,[193][194] with the later describing it as an 'unforgettable experiment in horror'.[194] In 2024, MovieWeb included it in a list of "The 40 Scariest Movies of All Time".[195] Over the years, several sources have erroneously reported Time as ranking Begotten in its top-ten list of either 1990 or 1991, but the film was not included in either year.[i]

Influence

[edit]

Begotten has influenced several avant-garde and experimental films, and is cited by several artists as inspiration.[93][138][187] Michael Pope's 2001 experimental film Neovoxer has been compared to Begotten as it contains a similar visual style and "impressionistic mythology".[180] According to Panos Cosmatos, the flashback sequences in his 2010 film Beyond the Black Rainbow were directly inspired by Begotten. When interviewed by CHUD.com's Joshua Miller, Cosmatos said that he wanted the flashback sequences to "have the look and feel of an artifact that was in the process of deterioration", and that Begotten's visual style was the perfect look for these sequences.[197] Kyle Turner from Mubi.com described the 2015 experimental film Ville Marie as being very similar to Merhige's film in terms of cinematic style and use of reverse-exposure.[198] Eddie Alcazar's 2016 short film FUCKKKYOUUU was noted by the magazine Vice as possibly influenced by Merhige's film.[199] Jimmy Joe Roche's experimental short film, Skin of Man (2018), was also said to have been influenced by Begotten.[200]

Other films have been noted by critics as sharing some similarities to Begotten. Scenes in Can Evrenol's 2015 surrealist horror film Baskin were compared to Begotten.[201] James Quinn's 2017 experimental horror film Flesh of the Void was described by several critics as being similar to Merhige's film in style and narrative.[202] However, Quinn himself stated, in an interview with Nightmare on Film Street, that he felt his film did not fall into the same category.[203] Certain scenes from Blake Williams' 2018 avant-garde science fiction film Prototype were compared to Begotten by Glenn Kenny of The New York Times.[204]

The film's influence has also extended to musicians. In 1997, Swedish heavy metal band Katatonia released their third album Sounds of Decay, which featured a screenshot of Begotten as its front cover artwork. In an interview with webzine Chronicles of Chaos, band member Jonas Renkse recalled the idea behind the inclusion of the image came out during a conversation with a member of the record label Avantgarde Music.[205] The doom metal band Begotten derive their name from film.[206] In the promotional video for their 2001 song "Sterile Nails and Thunderbowels", the Swedish black metal band Silencer used clips from Begotten interspersed with original footage.[207] The American music artist Zola Jesus listed the film as a major inspiration for her 2017 music album Okovi, stating in an interview with ARTnews that during the development of the album, she played the film on loop to help with Okovi's audio and visual aesthetic.[208] For their experimental musical composition Frankenstein Bemshi! at the 2018 Rochester Fringe Festival, the performers Dave Esposito and G. E. Schwartz mixed portions of Begotten with the 1910 film Frankenstein, accompanied by live guitar music, electronic soundscapes, spoken narration, and poetry added as text to the movie's image.[209] The heavy metal magazine Decibel compared the music video for the Texas gothic rock band Sword Collector's single "Inherit the Scepter" to Begotten and Ari Aster's 2019 folk horror film Midsommar.[210]

Sequels

[edit]

Begotten was the first in a trilogy known as "The Begotten Cycle", a series of short film sequels created by Merhige and explores different aspects of creation myth and mysticism.[xv] The first sequel, Din of Celestial Birds, incorporates theories of evolution and the Big Bang.[35] Described by Merhige as the depiction of "creation in its simplest and purest form", it was funded by the Q6 production group, with production assistance by fellow director David Wexler.[125] It premiered at the Telluride Film Festival on September 6, 2006.[215]

Polia & Blastema: A Cosmic Opera, alternately titled Polia & Blastema: A Metaphysical Fable, was the conclusion to Merhige's trilogy.[123][216] It incorporates gnostic beliefs into the fantasy and science fiction genre.[217] Funded through a Kickstarter campaign, it was a collaborative effort between Merhige, Wexler, and the musician Gavin Gamboa.[217] The film later premiered at the Opera Philadelphia's Opera on Film Festival on September 30, 2022.[218][219][220]

References

[edit]

Footnotes

[edit]
  1. ^ Attributed to multiple references:[18][19][27][53]
  2. ^ Attributed to multiple references:[43][52][60][61]
  3. ^ Attributed to multiple references:[23][45][48][65]
  4. ^ Attributed to multiple references:[8][19][73][74]
  5. ^ Attributed to multiple references:[85][87][88][89][90][91]
  6. ^ Attributed to multiple references:[19][45][88][89][93]
  7. ^ Attributed to multiple references:[65][109][110][111]
  8. ^ Attributed to multiple references:[8][10][25][43][141][142]
  9. ^ Attributed to multiple references:[32][38][43][141]
  10. ^ Attributed to multiple references:[4][20][52][57][149][150]
  11. ^ Attributed to multiple references:[4][57][141][149]
  12. ^ Attributed to multiple references:[93][169][170][171]
  13. ^ Attributed to multiple references:[18][19][31][39][59][174][175][176]
  14. ^ Attributed to multiple references:[16][19][178][179]
  15. ^ Attributed to multiple references:[106][211][212][213][214]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ Alternately worded as Theatre of Material.[8]
  2. ^ While a 1995 article by Jonathan Rosenbaum alternately lists the date as 1984;[11] Merhige, born in 1964,[12] states he first conceptualized Begotten at age nineteen.[13]
  3. ^ Critic Elaine Dutka argues that trauma from the director's near-fatal car accident early in his youth was an early influence.[16] Though Merhige has stated that the experience merely helped form his own ideas and views on life.[17]
  4. ^ A total of $20,000,[27][28] adjusted for inflation to $48,000 in 2024.[26]
  5. ^ Merhige said "I was overexposing things on purpose, knowing I would underexpose things later... Though I didn't know how I was going to underexpose them."[38] In a 2021 retrospective for Film International, Ted Knighton wrote that Merhige also increased the contrast of the film, rendering places and characters as "ghostly silhouettes and abstractions".[52]
  6. ^ No relation to famed German actor Max Schreck, the subject of Merhige's later film Shadow of the Vampire.[8]
  7. ^ Merhige later recalled that Sontag had contacted him about setting up these private screenings, which Merhige initially believed to be a prank call.[75]
  8. ^ Several media outlets have alternately reported the 1990 and 1991 film festival screenings as its first release.[4][81][82]
  9. ^ Fangoria, Filmmaker, and author Bartłomiej Paszylk claimed that Time listed Begotten among the best films of 1990.[8][15][196] Los Angeles Times and the film's DVD packaging claimed it had been listed in 1991.[16][114]

Citations

[edit]
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  2. ^ a b c d e f MacDonald 1998, p. 290.
  3. ^ a b c Merhige 1990, pp. 3–4.
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  5. ^ Lentz 1994, p. 308.
  6. ^ a b c MacDonald 1998, p. 285.
  7. ^ Perron 2013, pp. 120–121.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g Stephens 2000.
  9. ^ a b Merhige 1990, p. 5.
  10. ^ a b c d e f g DiMatteo 1991, p. 2.
  11. ^ a b Rosenbaum 1995.
  12. ^ a b c Hanson 2010, p. 188.
  13. ^ a b Lazic 2024, 11:14-12:40.
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  16. ^ a b c d e Dutka 2004a, p. 51.
  17. ^ Beahm 2016, 22:20-23:35.
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  19. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Keogan 2021.
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  43. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Paşcalău 2023, pp. 171–175.
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  46. ^ Seibold 2022.
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  50. ^ Snyder 2011.
  51. ^ Jones 2018, p. 138.
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  66. ^ Whelan 2015, p. 71.
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  71. ^ a b Beahm 2013, p. 33.
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  73. ^ a b Beahm 2016, 53:15-55:00.
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  75. ^ Beahm 2016, 55:00-55:45.
  76. ^ Simon 2001.
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  78. ^ Hall 2004, p. 236.
  79. ^ Mathijs & Sexton 2011, pp. 162–163.
  80. ^ Zahedi 2001.
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  86. ^ Griffin 1989b, p. 82.
  87. ^ Dubner 1990, p. 158.
  88. ^ a b Hoberman 2003, p. 90.
  89. ^ a b Prince 2002, p. 437.
  90. ^ a b Museum of Modern Art 1990a, p. 1.
  91. ^ Museum of Modern Art 1990b, p. 4.
  92. ^ Bowman 1991, p. 41.
  93. ^ a b c d Gadre 2021.
  94. ^ MacDonald 1998, p. 284.
  95. ^ LA Weekly 1996, p. 84.
  96. ^ Thomas 1996, p. 75.
  97. ^ Spectacle Theatre 2014.
  98. ^ Horse Hospital 2014.
  99. ^ Busch 2015.
  100. ^ Moore 2015.
  101. ^ a b DO312 2016.
  102. ^ MothClub 2017.
  103. ^ Rouner 2019.
  104. ^ Cinemateca Portuguesa 2022.
  105. ^ DMON 2022.
  106. ^ a b L'Etrange Festival 2023.
  107. ^ a b Mathijs & Sexton 2011, p. 140.
  108. ^ Bleiler 2003, p. 50.
  109. ^ Hartl 1995, p. 80.
  110. ^ Hart 1995, p. 80.
  111. ^ Cornell 1995, p. 85.
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  114. ^ a b World Artists 2001.
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  116. ^ Smith 2001, p. 78.
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  119. ^ Mathijs 2017, p. 21.
  120. ^ Mathijs & Sexton 2011, p. 35.
  121. ^ Mathijs & Sexton 2011, pp. 35, 140.
  122. ^ Merhige 2016.
  123. ^ a b Filmskemutacije 2023.
  124. ^ a b Chaw 2015.
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  144. ^ Digitalis 2008, p. 4.
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Works cited

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[edit]
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