The Idiots

TO ANY ONE READING THIS,THE MOVIE IS WORTHWHILE I HAVE A MULTI REGION DVD PLAYER AND GOT MY HANDS ON THE EUROPEAN VERISON(REGION 2) UNCENSORED,THAT VERSION IS WORTH IT. IT GALLS ME THAT WE IN AMERICA WOULD SEEM TO HAVE TO BE PROTECTED FROM SEEING WHAT THE DIRECTORS TRUE VISION OF HIS WORK IS. AGAIN HOPFULLY IT WILL SOME DAY BE RELEASED ON THESE SHORES UNCENSORED. I WILL NOT BUY CENSORED MATERIAL AND I HOPE TRUE MOVIE LOVERS WILL AGREE.

It is a shame that more publicity has been made about the Dogma 95 experiment than about the products they rendered. So try looking beyond the Dogma stamp. The Idiots is an amazing film built upon a complex story and reveals elements of the human condition rarely revealed on the big screen. Von Trier is an expert at creating shocking cinema. Not only is it shocking because it is filmed differently than almost any other film you've seen, but it is also shocking because it is filled with nudity, vulgarity and controversial themes. It makes fun of mentally retarded adults under the guise of a serious social experiment. It has violent fights, an orgy scene... Despite all this, try looking beyond the shocking elements. What you will find beyond all the things that many critics chose not to look past is an emotionally powerful portrayal of a group of individuals searching for a way in which to view their identity in a way that is devoid of all social artifices. It is a story of a people trying to actively live out an idea that there is something essential about their being which can be reached through an extreme modification of their behaviour. It becomes increasingly clear throughout the narrative that these people are running away from who they are rather than finding something essential. The emotional tension that is being withheld slowly rises to the surface and culminates in one of the most devastating scenes I've ever witnessed. It is moving not just because it deals with death, but because it illuminates in an exaggerated fashion the way in which people in society today hide from themselves and subsequently reveal themselves to be frail and insecure. Of course, all of the elements that go into making this such a shocking film are inextricably incorporated into the emotional power created. You need to watch this film while withholding moral judgements and consider the issues that are being so skilfully portrayed in a way no other director was able to do before Dogma 95.

"The Idiots" ("Idioterne") is the controversial 1998 black comedy by Danish director Lars von Trier ("Breaking the Waves," "Zentropa," "The Kingdom) that has been the target of censor boards around the world. Karen (Bodil Jorgensen) finds herself introduced to a group of intelligent, good-looking young adults who live together and led by the charismatic Stoffer (Jens Albinus). They all decide they will provoke a response from the bourgeoisie by going out in public and pretending to be mentally and/or physically disabled.

Their constant efforts to create anarchy in every situation is basically what we would have called guerilla theater back in the Sixties. But the larger question is whether the film itself is part of the attack. The people confronted with these "idiots" are always shocked, angered, disturbed, or at least annoyed. Yet these are reactions the viewing audience can have as well to what they see; "The Idiots" is guerilla theater in the tradition of Andy Kaufman, albeit with sexually explicit scenes thrown in to really keep you guessing as to what is really going on. If you have never seen a truly provocative film, then, yes, I fully expect "The Idiots" might prove to be too much for you to handle.

This film is made under the Dogma banner, which von Trier established in 1995 as a restrictive anti-establishment manifesto requiring filmmakers to avoid the use of props, sets, artificial sound and light, lens filters and superficial action, all while filming with one handheld camera. Lars von Trier won the FIPRESCI Award at the London Film Festival for this film. The citation reads, in part, "For its attempt to rethink film language and social rules from scratch and willingness to accept the limitations of both its method and cultural assumptions." I am not sure the film works as either satire or social criticism simply because it is so outrageous that it can easily be dismissed by the very people you would assume its target audience. Still, you must admit it holds true to the principles of the Dogma manifesto.

Final note: My understanding is that the videotape version distributed in the U.S. does not have anything cut from the film; both versions run 117 minutes. However, black bars are used to cover certain shots in the orgy scene (you should know of what without me having to tell you) in order to avoid a NC-17 rating. Once again it appears we have the irony that the system tries to declaw an artistic effort in the name of profitability.