The Idiots (DVD)

Danish film director Lars Von Trier took only four days to make 'The Idiots' (Idioterne) in 1998. The film follows a group of adults who gather at the house in a Copenhagen suburb. From here they set out on excursions into different social settings such as restaurants and public swimming baths where they feign mental and physical disabilities. This process is referred to as 'Spassing' - a term derived from 'spasser', a Danish word with similar derogatory connotations to the word 'spaz' in English. The aim for each member is to bring out the "inner idiot" in themselves, although what this means and why they are doing this is never made fully clear and the ...  Read the complete review

Uncomfortable film ahoy! But as I sit and think about uncomfortable films, I'm awash with violence, swearing and dodgy realism: I'm thinking back to Funny Games, Man Bites Dog, Henry - Portrait of a Serial Killer; and The Idiots has no place in this genre whatsoever - It has no allegiance to psychopaths, it doesn't suffer from a gorish sickness - but it does have that voyeuristic edge that makes you itch in your pants with nervous skin - you shouldn't be seeing this. Billed as a comedy and a numbered Dogme film (number two, in fact), Von Trier documents the lives and loves of a bunch of...Idiots, in a film that saw him nominated (yet again) for ...  Read the complete review

When Danish filmmakers Lars Von Trier and Thomas Vinterburg become disillusioned with the state of commercial cinema - an overfed, bloated, money conscious industry whose sole purpose was to create an endless parade of illusions and spectacles that had nothing interesting to say - they decided to strip down the superficial modes and conventions of special effects, special lenses and even lighting to create a new wave of cinema that was more honest and gratifying. The result was the Dogme 95 movement. First announced in March 1995 (hence the 95), Dogme 95 presented a challenge to anyone who was willing to take it: to make a film without the comforts of ...  Read the complete review

Ok, this is possibly my favourite film of all time. Lars Von Trier is at his best working under the guidelines of the Dogme 95 manifesto, if you're familiar with Dogme you'll know what I'm on about, if not, it's best to read it up somewhere else, it basically concerns back-to-basics 'pure' film-making. I had to study this film on my Film Studies degree course and was blown away by it. BEWARE though, if you don't speak Danish and you don't get on well with subtitles, because throughout the film there are points when they are pretty tricky to read due to the fact they are white and sometimes on a bleached out bright/light background. THAT though is my only complaint with ...  Read the complete review