The Late Show: New 4K Restoration!

The Mindblowing Cult Film Returns!

God Killing Himself tears open his body and dies. Mother Earth rises from what remains and takes his seed into herself. She gives birth to Son of Earth — Flesh on Bone. He is cast into a barren world, seized by the Nomads, tortured, killed, and briefly returned to life by his mother. The Nomads destroy her too. The Robed Figures gather what remains of mother and son, grind their bodies down, and return them to the soil. The ground flowers. – Kino Lorber

Much like its spiritual predecessor, David Lynch’s ERASERHEAD, E. Elias Merhige’s BEGOTTEN defies description—or, more accurately, any description pales in comparison to the act of experiencing the film itself on screen. Shot on 16mm and painstakingly re-photographed in a yearslong process that ultimately resulted in the appearance of an arcane work dug up from the ancient grave or a post-apocalyptic artifact delivered from the far future, BEGOTTEN is a shocking and esoteric piece of art that feels like nothing short of eyewitness footage of a primal creation story.

When Merhige first completed this idiosyncratic work of cinematic art it was rejected by traditional distributors, discovered by festival programmers, shared amongst friends, championed by artists and intellectuals (especially Susan Sontag who screened it in her living room), lauded by critics, and—ultimately—adopted by a community of cinephiles thirsty for new and remarkable experiences. A blueprint for the evolution of a cult film in the age of home video—a storied VHS tape plays a strong role in its discovery—BEGOTTEN has always had an air of mystery about it. Now in a 4K remaster that retains the intrinsic obscurity of the original, it is ripe for re-discovery by a new audience.

“This new 4K restoration reveals the full photographic body of Begotten, preserving its otherworldly organic texture and retaining its visceral impact, a previously unknown life form captured in cinematic amber. – Kino Lorber

“One of the most important films of modern times.” – Susan Sontag

“One of the most disturbing avant-garde films ever made.” – Paste Magazine

“Disturbing homemade horror steeped in the occult. The movie isn’t for the faint of heart. A mindbending exploration of life and death filmed in grainy black-and-white.” – Far Out Magazine