A man named Seligman finds a fainted wounded woman in an alley and he brings her home. She tells him that her name is Joe and that she is nymphomaniac. Joe tells her life and sexual experiences with hundreds of men since she was a young teenager while Seligman tells about his hobbies, such as fly fishing, reading about Fibonacci numbers or listening to organ music.
Nymphomaniac is convincing as a work of philosophical seriousness.
– Wesley Morris,
Grantland,
17 Apr 2014
fresh:
"Nymphomaniac: Vol I" is crazy. It's funny, it's lewd, it's disturbing, it's odd, it's extremely graphic, it's brutal. And if you can handle all that, it's pretty good.
– Tom Long,
Detroit News,
4 Apr 2014
rotten:
Without an explanation for the protagonist's physical and emotional injuries, it's a head-scratcher. As with Joe's sexual compulsion, scratching can't cure the itch.
– Joe Williams,
St. Louis Post-Dispatch,
3 Apr 2014
fresh:
Lars von Trier is funny. Who knew? That's certainly the most startling revelation to come from Nymphomaniac: Vol. 1 .
– Christy Lemire,
ChristyLemire.com,
26 Mar 2014
fresh:
A pornographic work of art-obsessive, repetitive, at times remarkably eccentric, but never simple-minded or dull.