THE IDIOTS (IDIOTERNE) (R). (Palace) Director: Lars Von Trier Stars: Bodil Jorgensen, Jens Albinus, Louise Hassing, Troels Lyby, Nikolaj Lie Kaas, Henrik Prip, Luis Mesonero, Louise Mieritz, Kund Romer Jorgenson Running time: 117 minutes (Danish, with English subtitles).
Pioneered by Danish enfant terrible Lars Von Trier, the Dogma manifesto represents a back to basics style of film making. The manifesto stipulates that films made under its guidelines are truly collaborative efforts, without individual recognition or credit given to cast and crew. Under this code of practice, films are shot on location using hand held cameras and natural lighting, and attempt to draw out the natural emotional elements of a specific scenario rather than rely on artificially created action. The Idiots (Idioterne) is the first film produced under this manifesto to reach Australian screens, and it is something of an eye opener.
The Idiots is a challenging, provocative and outrageous film about a group of middle class friends who "spass" - pretend to be mentally handicapped in public places. Spassing allows them to get free meals from restaurants and enables them to get away with behaviour that would normally be greeted with condemnation. People are prepared to tolerate and accept certain standards of behaviour, and make allowances for the handicapped, but this group callously trade on their generosity and faith. The group live in a communal arrangement in the house owned by Stoffer's uncle. The loosely structured plot follows them through a number of public encounters - a factory tour, a swimming lesson, a meeting with a couple of bikies - and explores the hypocrisy of society when it comes to dealing with mental illness. There are some hilarious sequences throughout, but there is also an uncomfortably vicious tone to some of the group's antics. In one scene, Stoffer introduces his friends to some potential buyers who have come to check out his uncle's house. While the couple profess to be comfortable with their handicaps, they can't wait to get away.
The lonely and troubled Karen (Bodil Jorgensen) briefly joins the group, and finds solace and escape from the harsh reality of her life. But slowly the group begins to fall apart as their spassing gets out of control. The Idiots explores the dynamics of group behaviour, and depicts how the selfish actions of one person can impact on the harmony and unity of the rest.
The film's content may well offend many in the audience, but one suspects this is what Von Trier deliberately set out to achieve. Some eight seconds worth of footage have been deleted from the climactic orgy scene. Von Trier has always been a provocative and challenging director, but here he is also pushing aesthetic and ethical boundaries to the limit. With its naturalistic, quasi-documentary style, Von Trier also seems to be deliberately turning his back on those earlier stylish films that established his reputation as one of Europe's finest and most inventive young directors (Europa, etc). Some scenes seem improvised, and the performances are natural and spontaneous. There is something of an amateurish look to the film as boom microphones keep dropping into the shot, and crew members can be seen walking around in the background on several occasions. The jerky, hand held camera movements and the fuzzy, out of focus shots eventually become irritating. Ultimately, this style of cinema verite becomes an artifice rather than a genuine advance in cinematic technique.
Von Trier gives The Idiots a sort of warts-and-all documentary-style feels, as he features talking heads interviews with the principal characters to disguise the technical blemishes.
Brimming with contentious ideas, The Idiots offers a challenging time at the cinema that many within the audience will not feel entirely comfortable with. The film will certainly polarise audiences, and many may not last the distance. While The Idiots lacks the raw emotional power of Von Trier's Breaking The Waves, it will still move audiences in other ways.
*** greg king http://www.netau.com.au/gregking
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