Idioterne

Tonight's Film Society screening was Lars von Trier's The Idiots (1998), the second Dogme 95 film from Denmark's most famous director. I hadn't seen the film before tonight (despite my having chosen it to be shown this semester), but I enjoyed it. In a squirmish, uncomfortable sort of way. It was definitely different. It's about a bunch of people in suburban Copenhagen who pretend to be mentally handicapped, both by themselves and out in public. The resulting challenges were interesting. The characters in the film were challenging social conventions and how relationships are affected by behavior. The fact that the actors were playing characters who were essentially performance artists challenged the traditional dynamic between actors and their characters. The documentary-style format of the film further complicated this dynamic. And perhaps most obvious of all is the challenge placed upon the viewer - who must watch this awful but often hilarious behavior (not to mention all of the sex and nudity).

So overall it was a good evening. Turnout was decent as well - more people showed up than I expected. It's playing again Sunday night, and hopefully many more people will show up to see a product of one the world's most innovative and creative directors.