As Lars Von Trier remains under a self-imposed code of silence until the world is finally ready to talk about Nazis, much of the information regarding his next film, Nymphomaniac, has been secondhand. What we do know so far: It will definitely feature Stellan Skarsgard’s “floppy penis”—and should you for some reason need to know more than that, it will, as its title suggests, concern a self-diagnosed nymphomaniac, specifically a woman who details her “erotic journey from birth to the age of 50” (the “Milan to Minsk” of one’s life, as it were).
But since this is a Lars Von Trier movie, one naturally wonders whether that woman—and the actress who plays her—will be abused and tormented, to which this newly leaked plot synopsis affirms, yes, don’t even worry about it. According to the official description, Nymphomaniac will get right down to it, beginning as Skarsgard’s character finds said woman, Joe, “semi-unconscious and beaten up in alleyway,” then nurses her back to health as she recounts her life story and myriad sexual encounters over “eight chapters” in what sounds like the darkest episode of Red Shoe Diaries ever.
And as for what those chapters will entail, not even star Charlotte Gainsbourg knows for sure: “I haven't read the script; I sort of had to commit to doing the film without reading it,” she tells the Guardian, although she does say that Von Trier will, as with Antichrist, have “porn doubles” on hand to step in for both of the film’s planned “hardcore and softcore” versions, should there be anything that makes her uncomfortable. Like what, Charlotte Gainsbourg? “"I don't know up to what point but I know I have limits,” Gainsbourg explains. “I had limits on Antichrist. I remember, he asked me to jerk off the porn actor and that's when I said I couldn't. So we will see what my limit is for the next one." Lars Von Trier: perhaps the only director who necessitates a “no jerking anyone off” clause in your contract. [via The Playlist]