Begotten

Begotten is a 1989 American experimental horror film written, directed and produced by E. Elias Merhige. It stars Brian Salsberg, Donna Dempsy, Stephen Charles Barry, and members of Merhige's theatre company, Theatreofmaterial. The film does not contain dialogue, with its visual style evoking early silent films. Its unconventional narrative depicts the suicide of a godlike figure and the resulting births of Mother Earth and the Son of Earth, who set out on a journey across a barren landscape, all leading to a brutal end. The film's storyline draws upon various aspects of creation myths, including Christian, Celtic mythology, and Slavic paganism. Several writers have commented on some of the film's narrative motifs and religious imagery that reoccur throughout Merhige's work, describing the graphic depictions of violence as reflecting mankind's struggle to "tame" the earth through bloodshed.
Conceived as an experimental theatre piece with dance and live musical accompaniment, Begotten was switched to film after realizing that his vision was too expensive to produce in a live setting.