'Begotten': E. Elias Merhige

Begotten is a 1990 American experimental/horror film, written, produced and directed by E. Elias Merhige.

The film deals with the story of Genesis, reimagining it. Merhige revealed during Q&A sessions that its primary inspiration was a near death experience he had when he was 19, after a car crash. Merhige also stated that he would like this film to be the first of a trilogy. He was experiencing difficulties getting proper funding, and at the time it was unknown if/when the two other films would be made. The second film of the unofficial trilogy, a 14-minute film entitled Din of Celestial Birds, deals with evolution. It premiered in 2006 on Turner Classic Movies, and was shot in similar visual fashion.

Production
Begotten features no dialogue, but uses harsh and uncompromising images of human pain and suffering to tell its tale. It also has little music, and is instead accompanied by the sounds of crickets, and occasionally other sound effects such as grunting and thrashing. It was shot on black and white reversal film, and then every frame was rephotographed for the high-contrast look that it presents. The look is described in the trailer as "a Rorschach test for the eye". Merhige said that for each minute of original film, it took up to 10 hours to rephotograph it for the look desired.

Themes
While the film is not easily approached —lacking both dialogue and discernible cultural symbols— it does contain references to various religious and pagan myths. Christian elements are present in the impregnation of Mother Earth by a God, akin to the impregnation of Mary by The Holy Spirit. A similar story is partly present in ancient Egyptian mythology, where Isis impregnates herself with the penis of the killed god Osiris and gives birth to Horus.