{"product_id":"begotten-1990","title":"BEGOTTEN (1990)","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: rgb(204, 204, 204);\"\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eBegotten\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e is a 1989 American \u003ca title=\"Experimental film\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Experimental_film\" style=\"color: rgb(204, 204, 204);\"\u003eexperimental\u003c\/a\u003e \u003ca title=\"Horror film\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Horror_film\" style=\"color: rgb(204, 204, 204);\"\u003ehorror film\u003c\/a\u003e\u003csup id=\"cite_ref-FOOTNOTEMacDonald1998290_8-0\" class=\"reference\"\u003e\u003c\/sup\u003e written, directed, and produced by \u003ca title=\"E. Elias Merhige\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/E._Elias_Merhige\" style=\"color: rgb(204, 204, 204);\"\u003eE. Elias Merhige\u003c\/a\u003e. It stars Brian Salsberg, Donna Dempsy, Stephen Charles Barry, and members of Merhige’s theatre company, Theatreofmaterial. Its unconventional narrative depicts the suicide of a godlike figure and the resulting births of Mother Earth and the Son of Earth, who set out on a journey across a barren landscape. The film does not contain dialogue, with its visual style evoking early \u003ca title=\"Silent film\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Silent_film\" style=\"color: rgb(204, 204, 204);\"\u003esilent films\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: rgb(204, 204, 204);\"\u003eThe film’s storyline draws upon \u003ca title=\"Creation myth\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Creation_myth\" style=\"color: rgb(204, 204, 204);\"\u003ecreation myths\u003c\/a\u003e in \u003ca title=\"Christian mythology\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Christian_mythology\" style=\"color: rgb(204, 204, 204);\"\u003eChristian mythology\u003c\/a\u003e, \u003ca title=\"Celtic mythology\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Celtic_mythology\" style=\"color: rgb(204, 204, 204);\"\u003eCeltic mythology\u003c\/a\u003e, and \u003ca title=\"Slavic paganism\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Slavic_paganism\" style=\"color: rgb(204, 204, 204);\"\u003eSlavic paganism\u003c\/a\u003e, featuring narrative motifs and religious imagery that reoccur throughout Merhige’s work. Other influences include the \u003ca title=\"Transgressive art\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Transgressive_art\" style=\"color: rgb(204, 204, 204);\"\u003etransgressive artist\u003c\/a\u003e \u003ca title=\"Antonin Artaud\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Antonin_Artaud\" style=\"color: rgb(204, 204, 204);\"\u003eAntonin Artaud\u003c\/a\u003e and the philosopher \u003ca title=\"Friedrich Nietzsche\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Friedrich_Nietzsche\" style=\"color: rgb(204, 204, 204);\"\u003eFriedrich Nietzsche\u003c\/a\u003e. The film’s visual style was inspired by \u003ca title=\"Georges Franju\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Georges_Franju\" style=\"color: rgb(204, 204, 204);\"\u003eGeorges Franju\u003c\/a\u003e‘s \u003ci\u003e\u003ca title=\"Blood of the Beasts\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Blood_of_the_Beasts\" style=\"color: rgb(204, 204, 204);\"\u003eBlood of the Beasts\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ca title=\"Akira Kurosawa\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Akira_Kurosawa\" style=\"color: rgb(204, 204, 204);\"\u003eAkira Kurosawa\u003c\/a\u003e‘s \u003ci\u003e\u003ca title=\"Seven Samurai\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Seven_Samurai\" style=\"color: rgb(204, 204, 204);\"\u003eSeven Samurai\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ca title=\"Stan Brakhage\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Stan_Brakhage\" style=\"color: rgb(204, 204, 204);\"\u003eStan Brakhage\u003c\/a\u003e‘s \u003ci\u003e\u003ca title=\"The Act of Seeing with One's Own Eyes\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/The_Act_of_Seeing_with_One%27s_Own_Eyes\" style=\"color: rgb(204, 204, 204);\"\u003eThe Act of Seeing with One’s Own Eyes\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003e\u003ca title=\"The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/The_Cabinet_of_Dr._Caligari\" style=\"color: rgb(204, 204, 204);\"\u003eThe Cabinet of Dr. Caligari\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: rgb(204, 204, 204);\"\u003e\u003ci\u003eBegotten\u003c\/i\u003e was originally conceived as a work of experimental theatre featuring dance and live music. It become a film project after Merhige realized that his vision would be too expensive to produce live. The film was shot on location in \u003ca title=\"New York City\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/New_York_City\" style=\"color: rgb(204, 204, 204);\"\u003eNew York City\u003c\/a\u003e and \u003ca title=\"New Jersey\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/New_Jersey\" style=\"color: rgb(204, 204, 204);\"\u003eNew Jersey\u003c\/a\u003e over five and a half months. After it was completed, Merhige spent two years trying to find a \u003ca title=\"Film distributor\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Film_distributor\" style=\"color: rgb(204, 204, 204);\"\u003edistributor\u003c\/a\u003e willing to market it. The film debuted at the \u003ca title=\"Montreal World Film Festival\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Montreal_World_Film_Festival\" style=\"color: rgb(204, 204, 204);\"\u003eMontreal World Film Festival\u003c\/a\u003e, and later screened at the \u003ca title=\"San Francisco International Film Festival\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/San_Francisco_International_Film_Festival\" style=\"color: rgb(204, 204, 204);\"\u003eSan Francisco International Film Festival\u003c\/a\u003e, with the film critics \u003ca title=\"Tom Luddy\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Tom_Luddy\" style=\"color: rgb(204, 204, 204);\"\u003eTom Luddy\u003c\/a\u003e and Peter Scarlet in attendance. Impressed by its \u003ca title=\"Cinematographer\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Cinematographer\" style=\"color: rgb(204, 204, 204);\"\u003ecinematographer\u003c\/a\u003e and visual imagery, the two brought it to the attention of the critic \u003ca title=\"Susan Sontag\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Susan_Sontag\" style=\"color: rgb(204, 204, 204);\"\u003eSusan Sontag\u003c\/a\u003e, whose enthusiastic praise and private screening to critics and filmmakers in her own home were instrumental to its eventual release.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: rgb(204, 204, 204);\"\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eblack \u0026amp; white, mono, fullscreen, 78 minutes. DVD-R comes packaged as shown in color DVD case, wrapped in plastic!\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #18c92b;\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: rgb(255, 188, 0);\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: rgb(204, 204, 204);\"\u003eFIND MORE MYTH, HORROR AND EXPLOITATION GEMS AT \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/dvdrparty.com\/\" style=\"color: rgb(204, 204, 204);\"\u003eDVDRPARTY.COM\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003ciframe width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/4tU39EP7k2k?si=HMM3wmN5Tbmjnnfm\" title=\"YouTube video player\"\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"DVDRPARTY.COM","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52823692706079,"sku":"DR CALIGARI","price":19.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0246\/4453\/files\/DETNIUYSGH-scaled.jpg?v=1787933371","url":"https:\/\/store.cave-evil.com\/products\/begotten-1990","provider":"Pit of Infinite Shadow","version":"1.0","type":"link"}