A startling genesis.

Here's one that may divide audiences. It has since it was made in 1991. Many people do not understand it but before I go into further detail, let me offer it up. After that, you be the judge.

 Yes, it is the rare film, BEGOTTEN, from E. Elias Merghige.

Here it is. The one and only.

Why does it look like that? Is this some sort of high art horror film? Well, yes, technically it is, actually. The whole film is comprised of black and white film rephotographed under high contrast. There is no spoken dialog and the soundtrack consists of mostly natural sounds such as crickets. By the very nature this is an odd film.

But, oh yeah, the story. I said this was an art film so the story is one of those that is open to individual perspective. But the best I can do is copy and paste the explanation from the Wikipedia entry. It does contain spoilers so you might want to glance further down past the following paragraph.

The story opens with a robed, profusely bleeding "God" disemboweling himself, with the act ultimately ending in his death. A woman, Mother Earth, emerges from his remains, arouses the body, and impregnates herself with his semen. Becoming pregnant, she wanders off into a vast and barren landscape. The pregnancy manifests in a fully grown convulsing man whom she leaves to his own devices. The "Son of Earth" meets a group of faceless nomads who seize him with what is either a very long umbilical cord or a rope. The Son of Earth vomits organic pieces, and the nomads excitedly accept these as gifts. The nomads finally bring the man to a fire and burn him. "Mother Earth" encounters the resurrected man and comforts him. She seizes the man with a similar umbilical cord. The nomads appear and proceed to rape her. Son of Earth is left to mourn over the lifeless body. A group of characters appears, carry her off and dismember her, later returning for Son of Earth. After he, too, is dismembered, the group buries the remains, planting the parts into the crust of the earth. The burial site becomes lush with flowers.

OK, that's what Wikipedia had to say for the plot.

This film does require some understanding of symbolism and creation myths plus a strong stomach since some of the imagery is very disturbing. Even so, BEGOTTEN is a fascinating piece of film. It is definitely a horror film. It takes a very dirty and ugly approach to tell the tale and is somewhat nightmarish in its execution. In the years since this came out, it has become highly collectible. New DVD copies go on amazon for $189.99 and up. Even VHS copies demand a pretty penny. So this is your valuable freebie of the day. Love it, hate it, or simply shrug your shoulders at it, BEGOTTEN is a force to be reckoned with.