User:Paleface Jack/sandbox

Themes and analysis

Multiple interpretations

Scholars and academics have offered many possible readings of Begotten; film critics are similarly divided on their interpretations of it. Ryerson University professor Carolyn L. Kane argues that Begotten's grainy and decayed visual style invites differing interpretations from the audience. Kane concludes that the film's ambiguity also functions as an allegory to the viewer's uncertainty, in what she describes as "the hermeneutic of the image".

Death and rebirth

Begotten, like all of Merhige's films that followed it, has been highlighted by writers for its themes of mortality and death. Critic Elaine Dutka suggests that Merhige's exploration of mortality and death in his films may originate from a near-death experience in his youth.

Death

'Merhige's experiences

Decay

Exploration of violence

In the film, Begotten's main characters are subjected to acts of extreme violence.

Religion, mythology, and the occult

Christianity and motifs

Creation mythology

Alchemy and hermeticism

The film's opening sequence has been the focus of some publications, who have written on its symbolic qualities.