The Idiots
The Idiots | |
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![]() Danish release poster | |
Directed by | Lars von Trier |
Written by | Lars von Trier |
Produced by | Vibeke Windeløv |
Starring | |
Cinematography | Lars von Trier |
Edited by | Molly Malene Stensgaard |
Production companies |
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Distributed by | October Films |
Release date |
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Running time | 114 minutes[1] |
Countries |
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Language | Danish |
Budget | USD$2.5 million |
Box office | $7,235[2] |
The Idiots (Danish: Idioterne) is a 1998 Danish comedy-drama film written and directed by Lars von Trier. It is his first film made in compliance with the Dogme 95 Manifesto, and is also known as Dogme #2. It is the second film in von Trier's Golden Heart Trilogy, preceded by Breaking the Waves (1996) and succeeded by Dancer in the Dark (2000). It is among the first films to be shot entirely with digital cameras.
Plot[]
A seemingly anti-bourgeois group of adults spend their time seeking their "inner idiot" to release their inhibitions. They do so by behaving in public as if they were developmentally disabled.
At a restaurant, the patrons are disturbed by the group's mischief, barely contained by their supposed "handler", Susanne; however, single diner Karen develops an appreciation of their antics. The members of the group refer to this behaviour as "spassing", a neologism derived from "spasser", the Danish equivalent of "spaz". Karen leaves in a taxi with the people from the restaurant, and she finds herself at a big house. The apparent leader of the group, Stoffer, is supposed to be selling the house (which belongs to his uncle), but instead it becomes the focal point for group activities.
The "spassing" is a self-defeating attempt by the group to challenge the establishment through provocation. The self-styled idiots feel that the society-at-large treats their intelligence uncreatively and unchallengingly; thus, they seek the uninhibited self-expression that they imagine a romantic ideal of disability will allow.
Stoffer, at his birthday party, wishes for a "gangbang", and both clothes and inhibitions are soon discarded. Then, when Stoffer calls for the group members to let idiocy invade their personal daily lives, Karen takes up the challenge. She takes Susanne back to her house, where they are greeted with surprise by Karen's mother. Karen has been missing for two weeks, following the death of her young baby; she offers no explanation of where she has been. Karen attempts to spaz in front of her family by dribbling the food she is eating, but this results in a violent slap from her husband, Anders. Karen and Susanne leave the house together.
Cast[]
- Bodil Jørgensen as Karen
- Jens Albinus as Stoffer
- Anne Louise Hassing as Susanne
- Troels Lyby as Henrik
- Nikolaj Lie Kaas as Jeppe
- Louise Mieritz as Josephine
- Henrik Prip as Ped
- Luis Mesonero as Miguel
- as Axel
- Trine Michelsen as Nana
- as Katrine
- Paprika Steen as High-class lady
- Erik Wedersøe as Stoffer's uncle
- as Man From Municipality
- Anders Hove as Josephine's father
- Lars von Trier (uncredited voice) as Interviewer
Production[]
The Idiots is a co-production of companies from Denmark, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and Sweden. It was filmed during May 1997 and June 1997.[3] The script was written over just four days, between 16 May 1997 to 19 May 1997.[4][5]
Style[]
The confession of a Dogme 95 film is an idea adapted by Thomas Vinterberg in the first Dogme 95 film: Make a confession if there were things happening on the shoot which are not in accordance with the strict interpretation of the Dogme 95 rules. It is written from the director's point of view. Accordingly, von Trier made the following confession:
In relation to the production of Dogme 2 "The Idiots", I confess:
- To have used a stand-in in one case only (the sexual intercourse scene).
- To have organised payment of cash to the actors for shopping of accessories (food).
- To have intervened with the location (by moving sources of light – candlelight – to achieve exposure).
- To have been aware of the fact that the production had entered into an agreement of leasing a car (without the knowledge of the involved actor).
All in all, and apart from the above, I feel to have lived up to the intentions and rules of the manifesto: Dogme95.[6]
In order to not violate Dogme 95 rule 2, forbidding the use of non-diegetic music, a harmonica player was recorded during the shooting of some scenes, including the end credits, even if he is not seen onscreen.[7]
Release[]
The Idiots provoked a storm of publicity and debates, one of which was about the fictional representation of disability.[8] Film critic Mark Kermode's reaction was to shout "Il est merde! Il est merde! (sic)" from the back of the auditorium during the official screening of the film at Cannes, a spontaneous review for which he was ejected from the venue.[9]
Channel 4 aired the film unedited in 2005 as part of the channel's "Banned" season exploring censorship and cinematic works. Viewer complaints prompted an Ofcom investigation,[10] which came out in favour of Channel 4.[8] In its ruling, Ofcom found the film "not in breach" of the relevant Code under the specific circumstances of the broadcast, that is "the serious contextualisation of the film within a season examining the censorship of film and television, its artistic purpose, the channel which transmitted it, the strong warnings before the film and prior to the scene in question and the scheduling after midnight."[11] Ofcom added the caveat that, "While we do not consider the film was in breach of the Code on this occasion, we must consider carefully the acceptability of any similar content on an individual basis."[11]
The film is classified as adult-only in Argentina, Australia (though it has been shown uncut on TV with an MA rating), Chile, New Zealand, Norway, South Korea, Spain, Taiwan, and the United Kingdom. In Switzerland and Germany, the film ran uncut with a 16-years rating in theaters, followed by a DVD release with the same rating and several uncut television airings.
Reception[]
Critical reception[]
On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 71% score based on 31 reviews, with an average rating of 6.48/10.[12] Metacritic reports a 47 out of 100 rating based on 15 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[13]
The Idiots was ranked #76 in Empire magazine's "The 100 Best Films of World Cinema" in 2010.[14] The magazine had previously given it a full five star rating on its release in UK cinemas. It is listed as #941 in the film reference book '1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die'.
Controversy[]
More controversy arose over the sexual content, which was unusually explicit for a narrative film. The Idiots contains a shower scene in which a member of the group (in character as an "idiot") has an erection and, later, a group sex scene that includes one couple (faces not seen, stand-ins from the porn industry[15]) having unsimulated penetrative (vaginal) sexual intercourse. Both instances of explicit content are in view only for a few seconds.[16] The film was cleared for theatrical release by the British Board of Film Classification, receiving an 18 certificate.[17] When it was shown on Film4 (then FilmFour) in 2000, the erection and the intercourse were obscured by pixelization, following an order from the Independent Television Commission.[18][19]
Accolades[]
The film was shown in competition at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival.
- Bodil Awards (1999)
- Won: Best Actress, Bodil Jørgensen
- Won: Best Supporting Actor, Nikolaj Lie Kaas
- Won: Best Supporting Actress, Anne Louise Hassing
- Nominated: Best Film
- Cannes Film Festival (1998)
- Nominated: Palme d'Or[20]
- European Film Awards (1998)
- Nominated: European Film Award, Best Screenwriter
- London Film Festival (1998)
- Won: FIPRESCI Prize, Lars von Trier[14]
- Robert Festival (1999)
- Won: Best Actress, Bodil Jørgensen
- Valladolid International Film Festival (1998)
- Nominated: Golden Spike, Lars von Trier
References[]
- ^ "THE IDIOTS (18)". British Board of Film Classification. 15 February 1999.
- ^ "The Idiots". The Numbers. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
- ^ Jerslev, Anne (2002). Realism and 'reality' in Film and Media. Museum Tusculanum Press. ISBN 9788772897165.
- ^ http://www.dogme95.dk/interviews/the-man-who-would-give-up-control/
- ^ https://www.internationalfilmseries.com/schedules/fall00_2.html
- ^ von Trier, Lars (1998). Dogme 2, Idioterne: manuskript og dagbog (in Danish). Gyldendal. ISBN 978-87-00-34238-5.
- ^ Interview of Lars von Trier in the bonus features of the DVD
- ^ Jump up to: a b Farey-Jones, Daniel (24 May 2005). "Channel 4 avoids action on complaints about Idiots orgy". Brand Republic. Haymarket Media Group.
- ^ Kermode, Mark (13 May 2002). "Why I hate Cannes". BBC News.
- ^ Barnes, Anthony (13 March 2005). "Channel 4 faces investigation for breaking last sexual taboo on TV]". Independent on Sunday.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "The Idiots; Channel 4, 7 March 2005, 00:05" (PDF). Ofcom broadcast bulletin 35. 23 May 2005. pp. 8–9.
- ^ "The Idiots (Idioterne) (Dogma 95) (2000)". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. Retrieved 27 June 2019.
- ^ "The Idiots reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 15 February 2016.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "The 100 Best Films of World Cinema: 76. The Idiots". Empire. Retrieved 2 January 2011.
- ^ van der Vliet, Emma (18 May 2015). "Naked film: stripping with The Idiots". freepatentsonline.com. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016.
- ^ What Culture #11: The Idiots
- ^ Williams, Rhys (17 February 1999). "Group sex film passed by censor". The Independent.
- ^ "Explicit art film to run on British movie channel]". Studio Briefing. 27 April 2000.
- ^ Turner, Mimi (28 April 2000). "ITC orders cuts to FilmFour's 'Idiots' airing". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 17 May 2013.
- ^ "Idioterne". Festival Archives. Festival de Cannes. Retrieved 30 September 2009.
External links[]
- The Idiots at IMDb
- The Idiots at the TCM Movie Database
- The Idiots at Rotten Tomatoes
- The Idiots at Metacritic
- 1998 films
- Danish-language films
- Danish films
- French films
- Dutch films
- Italian films
- Spanish films
- Swedish films
- 1998 comedy-drama films
- Danish avant-garde and experimental films
- Danish comedy-drama films
- Danish independent films
- French avant-garde and experimental films
- French comedy-drama films
- French independent films
- Dutch avant-garde and experimental films
- Dutch comedy-drama films
- Dutch independent films
- Italian avant-garde and experimental films
- Italian comedy-drama films
- Italian independent films
- Spanish avant-garde and experimental films
- Spanish comedy-drama films
- Spanish independent films
- Swedish avant-garde and experimental films
- Swedish comedy-drama films
- Swedish independent films
- Camcorder films
- Danish Culture Canon
- Dogme 95 films
- Scanbox Entertainment films
- Films directed by Lars von Trier
- Films set in Denmark
- Films shot in Denmark
- Films about disability
- 1990s avant-garde and experimental films
- 1998 independent films