‘Begotten’: the disturbing homemade horror steeped in the occult
Experimental cinema can be a tricky genre to ease your way into. Its very existence challenges the preconceived notions of cinema we are brought up on. While Hollywood cinema typically favours the viewer’s enjoyment and understanding of the narrative, experimental cinema throws convention to the wind and prioritises unique formal structures and editing techniques.
These days, many mainstream directors have come to include experimental elements in their work, making the genre seem more accessible to those interested in dipping their toes in the water. However, there are some experimental films that even the most adventurous cinephiles might find hard to sit through. Edmund Elias Merhige’s Begotten is one of these avant-garde works – a mindbending exploration of life and death filmed in grainy black-and-white.
Championed by the likes of Susan Sontag, Begotten is an acquired taste, conceived initially as a piece of experimental theatre. The movie contains no dialogue, relying on the movements of the actors and haunting special effects to evoke a response. Merhige founded the theatre group Theatreofmaterial in the 1980s, using the members as both the cast and crew on Begotten. To prepare, the members would get into a meditative state, aligning themselves with the film’s themes and emotions rather than simply emulating them through acting.
Talking to Scott MacDonald, Merhige said, “We would breathe to the point of hysteria and create these moments of panic. Afterwards, we would analyse what the experience was all about. It was an intimate science.” Filming took several months, with Merhige using a trust fund from his grandfather and money from several special effects jobs to finance the movie. The low budget might have been a constraint, but this only encouraged the director to be more creative.
Begotten is visually striking, with Merhige approaching the look of the film with an intense, singular vision. He said: “I wanted Begotten to look, not as if it were from the twenties, not even as if it were from the nineteenth century, but as if it were from the time of Christ, as if it were a cinematic Dead Sea Scroll that had been buried in the sands, a remnant of a culture with customs and rites that no longer apply to this culture, yet are somewhere underneath it, under the surface of what we call ‘reality’.”
The movie isn’t for the faint of heart – it begins with a robbed man disembowelling himself before Mother Earth emerges from his insides. She then impregnates herself with the figure’s semen and births the Son of Earth, leading to a series of brutal and horrific events. To put it simply, Begotten must be watched with caution.
While Begotten‘s appeal is rather niche, it has gained a surprising cult following over the years, becoming an influential piece of underground experimental cinema. Watch the trailer below.