micki

Source for explanation on the film:

“The Story of Begotten”

@BlindDweller on Youtube

Everything written has been taken from their perspective on the film, as-well as my own.

please let me know your opinions/beliefs on this film, i have been super interested in the “Begotten cycle” recently and i wanna hear more :)

edit: ANYTIME I SAY “mother nature” i mean mother earth! im writing this on 3 hours of sleep lol, my bad.

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Begotten, 1989

E. Elias Merhige

This absolute artwork of a film depicts death, and rebirth. The start of the film depicting the suicide of a god in an old, broken-down looking house, the black and white grainy filter giving an eerie and uncomfortable view on the scene. With the ambience of the sounds of nature, and unsettling noises of self inflicted violence.

After the figure portrayed as a god succumbs to his injury, a woman that is portrayed as mother nature is seen to appear from behind the “god”. Her hands sliding up her body, to her chest which she holds, holding her chin towards the sky as-well. This is believed to be portrayed as some kind of trance. She then turns to face the corpse of the “god”, to then artificially inseminate herself with the corpse.

The next scene depicts mother earth, holding her pregnant stomach, standing next to a coffin which is believed to contain the “gods” corpse. The coffin slowly fades away from the scene, leaving only mother earth.

The next scene shows mother earth wandering around a body of water, some sort of lake or pond. The sounds of nature appear again, insects and such, along with the sound of a heartbeat. I believe the heartbeat is mother natures child. Then, “abstract visuals” appear, following to the next scene of a young man covered in dirt and mud, lying on the ground.

This next scene shows what appears to be the son of earth, which was abandoned by mother nature. Mother nature continues to roam around in this scene, as her son is choking and convulsing. The scene fades to black, then returns to the son of earth still lying on the ground, but with many faceless figures in dark, hooded cloaks. As the figures get closer to the son of earth, the sun in the background rises, clearing the scene of the eerie mist. These figures begin to circle around the son of earth, to which he begins to shake/convulse more violently. The dark figures begin to drag the son of earth by what appears to be his own umbilical cord. After treading through the rocky landscape, the figures tie his umbilical cord to a rock, to which the son of earth begins vomiting some sort of “organic matter”. The figures begin eagerly taking these “organ-like objects” like they are some sort of “gift”. Once satisfied, the dark figures drag the son of earth away, to which the scene cuts to show a fire being ignited. The figures begin torturing, brutally beating the son of earth. To then throw him in the fire. In the background, the sun begins to set.

The next scene takes us back to mother earth, depicting her resurrecting her son from the ashes. The sun begins to rise, then showing the son of earth, alive, lying on the ground, and clothed. Mother earth ties the umbilical cord around his neck like some sort of leash, leading him towards a forest. The noise of nature being heard again, along with ambient music. Mother earth and her son soon venture out of the forest, to another rocky-like landscape. The same dark, hooded, cult-like figures can be seen discovering mother earth and her son, just observing them as they begin to pass over concrete cylinders. One of the figures hits the son of earth over his head, as the son of earth still convulses, still alive. During, mother earth ignores, standing there in another trance-like state. The figures continue to torture her son, then the next scene depicts the dark figures hitting mother earth over the head, displayed as shadows. This follows with her also being violently beaten, then dismembered. The sounds of birds chirping in the background, but in a distressing manner.

BlindDweller describes this scene as “nightmarish” and “jarring”. I completely agree. The “uncomfortable-ness” of the lengthy scene is enough to keep me awake at night. The blurry imagery also giving me a strong sense of confusion, had me thinking, “what is even going on?”. Research on this film is definitely necessary, but going into it, blind to the meaning, gives an even better experience, in my opinion.

Soothing, calm music can be heard after the violent scene ends. Then depicting mother earths lifeless body, her son sits beside her, staring at her corpse. Cloaked figures appear, carrying her body away and leaving her son to mourn the loss of his mother.

The figures then carry her to a large cauldron, cutting her up and placing the pieces inside. As the scene ends, they carry the pieces of her body away in the cauldron.

The next scene depicts the son of earth crawling along a sandy landscape, this land being a beach. A new group of cloaked figures then hit the son of earth with a large hammer, to then take him to the same place mother earth was dismembered. The son of earth suffers the same fate his mother did. The figures then carry him off in a second cauldron. Then, another part of the group begins pounding mother earths remains into the dirt, partially burying them. They then proceed to do the same with the son of earth. The next scene shows a time lapse of flowers wilting away, followed by the scene we once saw of mother earth carrying away her son into the forest. Then, a shot of a mutilated corpse can be seen, followed by a shot of the forest, which fades to black, ending the artistic film.

Begotten isn’t a “horror film” like some may say, when i first heard of Begotten i believed it was, but after doing more research i discovered it is a work of art. Begotten is an art piece, not some “gore-y extreme horror film”. At times, the film gives a sense of terror and confusion, but the concept and story behind the film is so?….intriguing?