Time Machine task 2: Film Review

Improvised acting & hand-held cameras feature highly in films directed under the rules of the Dogma 95 manifesto which must be strictly adhered to; the film ‘The Idiots’ by Lars Von Trier is one of these.

It is about a group of middle-class people in their 20s whose intention is to ‘spass out’ in public and in the privacy of the home, owned by one of the group member’s uncle which they are staying in. These episodes of retardation are very controversial & give the film a very unconventional way of viewing this sort of behaviour that occurs in society. This seems to be the way that this group of people cope with society despite their everyday occupations such as, a doctor, an advertising agency & an art teacher, as well as escapism from their real lives including wives and children.

After the controversial ‘gang-bang’ scene where teenage Josephine and Jeppe seemed to be falling for each other in their idiot persona, the group are found relaxing out in the garden. The peaceful, idealised scene is disturbed & shattered by Josephine’s father who embarrasses her, invading and bursting the bubble they are living in. When talking to the group he brings up medication issues with his daughter which brings light to a possible mental problem she already has which the group didn’t know about, highlight the possible hypocritical actions of some group members. Her father draws attention to a conflict between the real world and their make believe world by quite aggressively & forcefully removing her from the house. Their happiness is crushed particularly Josephine and Jeppe’s demonstrated by Jeppe’s idiot persona coming out when trying to stop them from driving away; I feel this is the most emotional, dramatic and realistic scene in the crazy world of this film. Despite Jeppe reverting back to his ‘idiot’ persona I feel that this is the only way he can truly express himself which is very moving; it seems he cannot cope with this merge of realism & idealism.

The way Josephine’s father reacted to the knowledge of her personal behaviour and Jeppe’s idiot persona is commenting on our views toward this behaviour in our culture. Another example of this is when the idiots are encountered by real disabled people, and cannot deal with it, the film is acknowledging that these characters can be criticised for what they are doing but it can also be justified as a twisted way of expression. 

There’s this idea that forms from the film that you really have to be an idiot to change society or at least believe that you can. This idea of breaking all of the rules in film making through using the rules of Dogma 95, is metaphorical for the way the group is breaking the rules of authority; being an idiot is an act of despair but also courage. 

When nearing the end of the story it became clear that the game was almost over for them, when some of the group members found that they could not confront and reveal the idiot inside themselves in their personal lives they had to depart from the group. While at the beginning of the story the character, Karen seemed very quiet and withdrawn and was only by chance recruited into the group, at the end she was found to have the deepest character. After volunteering to go home and ‘spass out’ with Susanne as witness, we return to her home where we are finally immersed in complete reality. She is coldly welcomed home by her family who assumed she was dead having been missing for the last 2 weeks as well as being left to wonder why she didn’t attend her baby’s funeral. We find that she is the only person in the group able to spass out in ‘reality’ acting as her baby might have when eating cake, her husband slaps her and she leaves in tears with a tearful Susanne. It is a very shocking and abrupt end to the film, nothing is resolved however it seems that Karen is found to have the most undesired life to go back to which allows her to act out and throw it all away, deserting this lifestyle. 

They have all used ‘spassing’ not to make fun of mentally ill people but to hide away and regress back to their childhood to deal with a society they are opposed to. The character, Stoffer believes ‘They are the ones who are making fun,’ everyone in society who does not take their view; this deflects the argument that all the group does is stir trouble and insult the people in the society they have abandoned. 

The use of a handheld camera adds to the realism & spontaneity of the scenes almost like a home video especially with the quality of the picture. The camera moves freely as if part of the group among the action focussing on the most interesting occurrence. Although very simply and realistically shot, the way of life is very unrealistic enhancing this distortion in the minds and thoughts of the individuals whose characters all slowly develop and emerge throughout the film.

Von Trier plays with the concept of normalcy investigating the way we ought to and ought not to behave by devaluing rationality; we discover that the world begins to fall apart. While on the surface it would seem Von Trier is commenting on the attitudes society has to the mentally handicapped however deeper down it appears to be in defence of abnormality.

I found out that Lars Von Trier’s style of working refers to the French New wave, which was the name given to a group of youthful French filmmakers of the late 1950s and 60s such as Jean-Luc Godard; they have a self-conscious rejection of classical cinematic form such as moving freely with the scene rather than keeping the camera position still. He also takes inspiration from the Swinging London period which encompasses the flourishing fashion & cultural scene in the 60s of optimism & hedonism; a cultural revolution.

This strict Dogma 95 manifesto established and followed by Von Trier & Thomas Vinterberg is based on the traditional values of storytelling, acting & theme and excludes the use of elaborate special effects. He also believed in improvisation; however in some places he seems to have broken some of the rules. He uses a stunt double in the ‘Gang-bang’ scene and more importantly he used music. I find that this is a very significant choice that he has made which adds to the film; it is used at pivotal moments to draw attention to them and keep the audience alert. 

I feel over all the film ‘The Idiots’ is about the conflict between a group of middle-classes views on society, their love and hatred towards their own personal lives. There is a battle between the idealised world of innocence and no responsibilities they are able to live in the house and the realistic, sometimes stressful lives they have escaped from and abandoned, possibly because it has become too much for the individual.