The Cinematheque

“An extraordinarily original accomplishment … One of the ten most important films of modern times.”

Susan Sontag

Presenting like a decaying relic of an ancient (or alien) civilization, this underground curio by E. Elias Merhige (Shadow of the Vampire) was, for years, circulated by bootleg among seekers of the furthest extremities of avant-garde horror. Born of a dance piece inspired by Japanese butoh, and shot on blown-out 16mm with optical printing intensifying its degraded appearance, Begotten is, as anyone familiar with the film can attest, difficult to describe. At its most elemental, it is a creation myth involving cosmic self-annihilation and the genesis of new life. But more immediately, it is the rites of cryptic rituals, sacrificial offspring, cloaked nomads, and the elixir of blood, viscera, and torture—all operating on a plane of folkloric abstraction. Grotesque and beautiful in equal, sometimes overlapping measure, this ​“metaphysical splatter film” (per champion Susan Sontag) has undergone endless dissection by cinema scholars. It screens here in a long-awaited restoration, which upholds its original, primal aesthetic.

No dialogue

Advisory: Begotten contains scenes of sexual violence.

“One of the most disturbing avant-garde films ever made.”

Natalia Keogan, Paste

“It has a genuinely primitive feel—a twilight purity … What makes Begotten extraordinary is precisely the way this technical process mirrors the film’s theme of creation and destruction, of life (and cinema) constantly devouring itself … You may not like it; you won’t forget it.”

Robert DiMatteo, Film Comment