People who watch Lars von Trier movies should have an idea of what to expect; when you pay for a movie ticket, spend hours or days downloading files or more importantly sitting and watching his work, being judgmental is not going to help your probable enjoyable experience. Think about Kim Ki-duk, another prolific filmmaker, who you either love or hate, and Lars von Trier is not different in that regard. Yes, Lars von Trier is controversial, has always been, and so coming up with prudishness is a very hypocrite gesture, for supposed cinephiles. Again, if you decide to watch a movie, any kind of movie, you are supposed to be open to the logic of it, and to at least try to follow the idea that is exposed in it, and until having watched at least a part of it, decide if it's for you or not. Nymphomaniac has a self-pronounced theme: obsession with sex; we all know the devastating connotations of excess, and to claim or reclaim that this movie is infested with 'pornography instead of art' only shows your own dirty mind and opinionated expectations from a film. It is not pornographic, it does not have any real confrontational sex scenes, it has a story and artistry, what else do you want? Yes, it has its flaws, like the color of eyes that differ between actresses, as they change, representing a different epoch for the characters and so on, yes, sometimes one realizes that as the story is being told, there are some moments where it is odd how they will get back to the story, and fight away the digressions, but honestly, it is an entertaining story, it always makes you want to know more about it. I personally found it funny, not in an intentional way, or in a dark humored way, only in a very natural one. You do not suffer this movie, if you take the time to see the landscapes, wonder about the musical choices and what is being told. A lot of people accuse the director as misogynist, because he does not always glorify the image of his main characters, he shows their cracks, and that is what precisely makes a difference, just think about the fact that he has always made movies about women, and all of them strong ones, I could tag not only this film, but a few others by him, as feminist. But if you are expecting or wishing to see fragile women who "after all, make it", go and watch something by Wes Anderson or Sofia Coppola or some other soft-mannered entertainer, that could match more with your "artsy" and cartoonish demands.
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