History Film / Nymphomaniac

* InternalizedCategorism: Seligman suggests this as an explanation for why Joe's life has been so shitty — that she has internalized our culture's misogyny and hatred of sexuality.

* AManIsNotAVirgin: Averted with Seligman, who reveals to Joe that he is still a virgin at his old age.

* WhereDaWhiteWomenAt: {{Inverted}} with Joe, lusting for sex with the black immigrant.

** Played straight with the two black men being shown as actually well-hung.
* BilingualBonus: The two immigrant brothers arguing over who's gonna fuck which hole of Joe.

* ContrivedCoincidence: Lampshaded. Joe's third meeting with Jerôme — finding torn photographs from his ex-lover whilst on a walk, stumbling upon him and being lifted up onto a bridge by him — sounds way too contrived for Seligman's ears. Joe claims the story is authentic.

* DeathByWomanScorned: Subverted. Joe plots to [[DisproportionateRetribution kill Jerôme for having a relationship with P]]. Her plan goes awry and she gets severely busted and humiliated by the two.

** DoubleStandardRapeFemaleOnMale: When [[spoiler: Seligman tries to force himself onto Joe, she rightfully defends herself.]] However, Joe herself twice rapes a man throughout both volumes. In first, it’s the man on train on whom she forces herself despite repeated protests and refusals from him — an act which neither Joe nor Seligman calls rape (Joe says it was wrong, while Seligman defends it). In second, it’s the pedophile, whom she gives a blowjob while he is tied to a chair.

* PsychoLesbian: The film's only same-sex relationship is female and quickly turns into a potentially homicidal flavor of this trope when Joe sets Jerôme's car on fire subsequently attempts to [[spoiler: executing him]].

* ShoutOut: The beginning of Joe's [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane hallucination/vision]] of the Whore of Babylon echoes part of She's meditation in von Trier's earlier film ''{{Film/Antichrist}}''.

--> ''Joe'': That's because you think about the, perhaps 5% who actually hurt children. The remaining 95% never live out their fantasies. Think about their suffering. Sexuality is the strongest force in human beings. To be born with a forbidden sexuality must be agonizing. The pedophile who manages to get through life with the shame of his desire, while never acting on it, deserves a bloody medal.

* PoliticallyIncorrectHero: Seligman admonishes Joe for using the word “negro” saying that it’s not politically correct. Joe disagrees, answering that in her opinion society tries to hide certain words as politically correct when it’s afraid to face the real issues behind them.

* ViewersAreGeniuses: Seligman alludes to concept of religion, philosophy and classical music history which might not be easy to grasp for viewers without a proper background.

* WhereDaWhiteWomenAt: Joe, lusting for sex with the black immigrant.

Starring Charlotte Gainsbourg as Joe, Stellan Skarsgård as Seligman and Creator/ShiaLaBeouf as Jerôme. Creator/ChristianSlater, Creator/UmaThurman and Creator/WillemDafoe can be seen in smaller roles.

* DisproportionateRetribution: Joe has a tendency for this. First she attempts to [[DeathByWomanScorned kill Jerôme]] for having an affair with P, then she actually does [[spoiler:kill Seligman]] for forcing himself onto her. [[{{YMMV}} We can safely assume that pointing the gun at him would have sufficed]].

* DisproportionateRetribution: Joe has a tendency for this. First she attempts to [[DeathByWomanScorned kill Jerôme]] for having an affair with P, then she actually does [[spoiler:kill Seligman]] for forcing himself onto her. We can safely assume that pointing the gun at him would have sufficed.

** DoubleStandardRapeFemaleOnMale: When [[spoiler: Seligman tries to force himself onto Joe, she rightfully defends herself, though shooting him was a [[DisproportionateRetribution too harsh solution]].]] However, Joe herself twice rapes a man throughout both volumes. In first, it’s the man on train on whom she forces herself despite repeated protests and refusals from him — an act which neither Joe nor Seligman calls rape (Joe says it was wrong, while Seligman defends it). In second, it’s the pedophile, whom she gives a blowjob while he is tied to a chair.

* BondageIsBad: BDSM will make a woman find her lost sexuality, but also obsess over her master so that she neglects her child and leaves her husband.

* ContrivedCoincidence: Lampshaded. Joe's third meeting with Jerôme - finding torn photographs from his ex-lover whilst on a walk, stumbling upon him and being lifted up onto a bridge by him - sounds way too contrived for Seligman's ears. Joe claims the story is authentic.

** DoubleStandardRapeFemaleOnMale: When [[spoiler: Seligman tries to force himself onto Joe, she rightfully defends herself, though shooting him was a [[DisproportionateRetribution too harsh solution]].]] However, in the first half of the movie, Joe rapes a man on the train despite repeated protests and refusals from him, an act which neither calls rape (although Joe says it was wrong) - Seligman, meanwhile, defends it.

* LeFilmArtistique: Let's see: Absurd length (check). ViewersAreGeniuses (check). DeliberatelyMonochrome (check). [[TrueArtIsAngsty Depressing as hell]] (check). [[MaleFrontalNudity Extremely graphic sex scenes]] (check).

* InternalizedCategorism: Seligman suggests this as an explanation for why Joe's life has been so shitty - that she has internalized our culture's misogyny and hatred of sexuality.

* LeftTheBackgroundMusicOn: The organ music expertly used by Joe to describe the harmony of three lovers she once had, which plays in her flashback on a tape machine, abruptly stops playing when the cassette it's coming from runs out of tape - at the same time that she realizes [[spoiler: that sex doesn't give her any pleasure anymore.]]

* SympathyForTheDevil: Joe sympathizes with a pedophile, because she sees him as a sexual deviant like herself, only she pities him because he can't legally act upon his fetishes - which she defends as being saintly, compared to the pedophiles who ''do'' act upon their urges. She ends up giving the guy a blow job.

Being the third movie in [[Creator/LarsVonTrier Lars Von Trier's]] "Depression" [[ThematicSeries Trilogy]] (after ''[[Film/{{Antichrist}} Antichrist]]'' and ''[[Film/{{Melancholia}} Melancholia]])'', the 2014 film ''Nymphomaniac'' is a bleak story of utter emotional misery. [[TrueArtIsAngsty So what else is new,]] [[SignatureStyle right?]]

* AllGaysArePedophiles: The only male homosexual in the movie is also a pedophile.

* AspectRatio: The base aspect ratio of the film is 2.35:1, but the ratio changes to 1.85:1 in Chapter 3.

** DoubleStandardRapeFemaleOnMale: When [[spoiler: Seligman tries to force himself onto Joe, she rightfully defends herself, though shooting him was a [[DisproportionateRetribution too harsh solution]].]] However, in the first half of the movie, Joe rapes a man on the train despite repeated protests and refusals from him, an act which neither calls rape (although Joe says it was wrong)-Seligman, meanwhile, defends it.

* PsychoLesbian: The film's only same-sex relationship is female and quickly turns into a potentially homicidal flavor of this trope.

* WomanScorned: Joe sets Jerôme's car on fire when she finds out about his relationship with P. Her subsequent attempt to [[DeathByWomanScorned executing him]] fails though.

* AllMenArePerverts: Even the [[{{Asexuality}} asexual one]] as suggested by the ending.

* FramingDevice: Joe and Seligman's meeting frames Joe's back story.

* TwoScenesOneDialogue: Joe has sex with four men, and tells each one that "something that means a lot to [her]" has happened: that they have provided her her first orgasm. Each guy's reply is shown in a montage.

* BookEnds: The film opens and closes with over a full minute of black screen, with only sound effects.

* LeFilmArtistique: Let's see: Absurdly long (check). ViewersAreGeniuses (check). DeliberatelyMonochrome (check). [[TrueArtIsAngsty Depressing as hell]] (check). [[MaleFrontalNudity Extremely graphic sex scenes]] (check).

[[quoteright:347:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/nymphomaniac_12_photo_by_christian_geisnaes_798.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:347:[[{{Understatement}} "There's nothing to smile about."]]]]

* OneDialogueTwoConversations: Joe has sex with four men, and tells each one that "something that means a lot to [her]" has happened: that they have provided her her first orgasm. Each guy's reply is shown in a montage.

[[caption-width-right:347:[[{{Understatement}} "There's nothing to smile about."]]]] Starring Charlotte Gainsbourg as Joe, Stellan Skarsgård as Seligman and Creator/Shia LaBeouf as Jerôme. Creator/ChristianSlater,
Creator/UmaThurman and Creator/WillemDafoe can be seen in smaller roles.

Being the third movie in [[Creator/LarsVonTrier Lars Von Trier's]] "Depression" Trilogy (after ''[[Film/{{Antichrist}} Antichrist]]'' and ''[[Film/{{Melancholia}} Melancholia]])'', the 2014 film ''Nymphomaniac'' is a bleak story of utter emotional misery. [[TrueArtIsAngsty So what else is new,]] [[SignatureStyle right?]]

* {{Asexuality}}: Seligman claims this, and he and Joe have a refreshingly open and respectful conversation about it. Unfortunately, [[spoiler:it is somewhat undermined by the ending, in which he attempts to rape her]].

* ContrivedCoincidence: Joe's third meeting with Jerôme - finding torn photographs from his ex-lover whilst on a walk, stumbling upon him and being lifted up onto a bridge by him-sounds way too contrived for Seligman's ears. Joe claims the story is authentic.

* DeathByWomanScorned: Subverted. Joe plots to [[DisproportionateRetribution kill Jerôme for having a relationship with P]]. Her plan goes awry and she gets severely busted up and humiliated by the two.
* DeliberatelyMonochrome: Chapter 4 is in black and white.
* DepravedHomosexual: The only male homosexual in the movie is also a pedophile, while the film's only same-sex relationship is female and quickly turns into a potentially homicidal flavor of PsychoLesbian.
* DisproportionateRetribution: Joe has a tendency for it. First she attempts to [[DeathByWomanScorned kill Jerôme]] for havign an affair with P, then she actually does kill Seligman for forcing himself onto her. The threat of a gun to his head would have sufficed.

** DoubleStandardRapeFemaleOnMale: When [[spoiler: Seligman tries to force himself onto Joe, she rightfully defends herself by shooting him.]] However, in the first half of the movie, Joe rapes a man on the train despite repeated protests and refusals from him, an act which neither calls rape (although Joe says it was wrong)-Seligman, meanwhile, defends it.

* DownerEnding: After a long life of cold and shallow sex, Joe finally finds a true friend in the asexual virgin Seligman. [[spoiler:Then he tries to rape her, and she kills him.]]

* LeFilmArtistique: Let's see: Absurdly long... check. ViewersAreGeniuses... check. DeliberatelyMonochrome.. check. [[TrueArtIsAngsty Depressing as hell]]... check. [[MaleFrontalNudity Extremely graphic sex scenes]]... check.

* InternalizedCategorism: Seligman suggests this as an explanation for why Joe's life has been so shitty-that she has internalized our culture's misogyny and hatred of sexuality.

* LeftTheBackgroundMusicOn: The organ music expertly used by Joe to describe the harmony of three lovers she once had, which plays in her flashback on a tape machine, abruptly stops playing when the cassette it's coming from runs out of tape-at the same time that she realizes [[spoiler: that sex doesn't give her any pleasure anymore.]]

* MaleFrontalNudity: Loads.
* AManIsNotAVirgin: Averted with Seligman, who reveals to Joe that he is still a virgin ant his old age.

* SexIsEvilAndIAmHorny: Joe and the others base their sexuality on disregard for themselves and others, not really caring who gets hurt. [[spoiler:This even includes the supposedly asexual Seligman, who verbally gives justification to some of her more inconsiderate actions... And eventually tries to rape her.]]

* SoapOperaDisease: Joe's father suffers and eventually dies from an unknown disease.

* SympathyForTheDevil: Joe sympathizes with a pedophile, because she sees him as a sexual deviant like herself, only she pities him because he can't legally act upon his fetishes-which she defends as being saintly, compared to the pedophiles who ''do'' act upon their urges. She ends up giving the guy a blow job.

[[caption-width-right:347:[[{{Understatement}} "There's nothing to smile about."]]]]

''Nymphomaniac'' came out of the editing room at five-and-a-half hours in running length. [[ExecutiveMeddling The studio worked with the film editors]] to cut the film down to four hours, and released it as two two-hour movies, two weeks apart. One of the producers said that the 90 minutes of additional footage will eventually be released by von Trier. While no plans for that release have been detailed, an unedited Volume I was screened at the Berlin Film Festival in February of 2014.

* ContrivedCoincidence: Joe's third meeting with Jerôme-finding torn photographs from his ex-lover whilst on a walk, stumbling upon him and being lifted up onto a bridge by him-sounds way too contrived for Seligman's ears. Joe claims the story is authentic.

* IronicEcho: Joe nearly repeats K's line about screaming ''after'' being hit word for word while preparing to beat someone maliciously.

* TheSociopath: Joe-the-protagonist is portrayed this way by her narrator self, with quite a bit of focus on how she doesn't care at all about the lives she wrecks.

* UnreliableNarrator: Seligman sometimes calls out Joe on her bullshit, but perhaps not often enough. Her story gives an accurate portrayal of her state of mind, but perhaps less so of her life.

* YouRemindMeOfX: Seligman finds parallels with Joe's story in nature and the arts; these parallels remind Joe of other parts of her story.