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Movies / On DVD / The Idiots
The Idiots

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The Idiots (1998)

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Reviews Counted:30

Fresh:21

Rotten:9

Average Rating:6.5/10

Runtime: 1 hr 55 mins

Genre: Foreign Films

Synopsis: Lars von Trier's first contribution to Denmark's Dogme 95 collective (subtitled "Dogme 2," following Thomas Vinterberg's THE CELEBRATION) concerns a group of adults who decide to get in touch with... Lars von Trier's first contribution to Denmark's Dogme 95 collective (subtitled "Dogme 2," following Thomas Vinterberg's THE CELEBRATION) concerns a group of adults who decide to get in touch with their "inner idiot." When Karen (Bodil Jorgensen), a shy, sensitive young woman, follows a group of mentally disabled individuals home after an encounter at a restaurant, she discovers that they are, in fact, healthy and intelligent. Led by Stoffer (Jens Albinus), the group lives communally in his wealthy uncle's house. Stoffer believes that by "spassing" in public they are rejecting the conformity and normality of modern society, and he spends his unemployed days thinking of different ways to toy with the world at large. Shot with handheld digital cameras and using natural lighting and natural locations, THE IDIOTS possesses an urgency that makes it feel like a documentary. Von Trier sparked a heated controversy with his decision to film the sex scenes with actual intercourse, adhering to the Dogme tenets. (He hired porn actors for the close-ups.) This controversy aside, the film nonetheless raises questions about cultism, modern ethics, and the idea of individuality within the absurdity of the characters' world. [More]

Starring: Bodil Jorgensen, Jens Albinus, Anne Louise Hassing, Troels Lyby

Starring: Bodil Jorgensen, Jens Albinus, Anne Louise Hassing, Troels Lyby, Nicolaj Lie Kaas, Henrik Prip, Luis Mesonero, Louise Mieritz, Knud Romer Jorgensen, Trine Michelsen, Paprika Steen

Screenwriter: Lars von Trier
Producer: Vibeke Windelov

[See More Credits]

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Release:

Oct 24, 2000

No Details Exist
 
 

Reviews for The Idiots

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1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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N/R

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Full Review Source: City Pages, Minneapolis/St. Paul | comment Comment
08/19/09
Rob Nelson
Rob Nelson
City Pages, Minneapolis/St. Paul

The first Dogme film of Denmark's enfant terrible Lars von Trier challenges viewers to reexamine their social mores as well as cinema habits of desire, voyeurism and pleasure; it's likley to divide critics and audiences due to hard-core sex.

Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com | comment Comment
07/16/09
Emanuel Levy
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com
N/R

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Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
02/09/06
Geoff Andrew
Geoff Andrew
Time Out

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Full Review Source: Film Threat | comment Comment
12/06/05
Film Threat
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A worthy experiment.

Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | comment Comment
11/04/05
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid

No review available.

comment Comment
09/26/05
Cole Smithey
Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com
N/R

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Full Review Source: Nation | comment Comment
03/03/05
Stuart Klawans
Stuart Klawans
Nation

No review available.

comment Comment
02/11/05
Daniel M. Kimmel
Daniel M. Kimmel
Worcester Telegram & Gazette

No review available.

comment Comment
02/07/05
Philip Martin
Philip Martin
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

For all the Dogme-ordained restrictions to make the film feel "real," it ends up feeling more artificial.

Full Review Source: TheMovieReport.com | comment Comment
12/08/04
Michael Dequina
Michael Dequina
TheMovieReport.com

No review available.

comment Comment
10/26/04
Mark Palermo
Mark Palermo
Coast (Halifax, Nova Scotia)

The least you can say for it is that's it's truly brazen.

comment Comment
09/17/04
Jake Euker
Jake Euker
F5 (Wichita, KS)

No review available.

comment Comment
06/01/04
Joshua Tanzer
Joshua Tanzer
Offoffoff

Not bad for a dogme movie.

comment Comment
08/14/03
Gregory Weinkauf
Gregory Weinkauf
New Times

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Full Review Source: Film Threat | comment Comment
12/08/02
Film Threat
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N/R

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Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment Comment
06/05/02
Boxoffice Magazine
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Full Review Source: Globe and Mail | comment Comment
03/19/02
Globe and Mail
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Caustic, brutally funny, and more passionate than perhaps anything [Von Trier's] ever done.

Full Review Source: Matinee Magazine | comment Comment
03/07/02
Chuck Rudolph
Chuck Rudolph
Matinee Magazine

Von Trier has proven his self-proclamations of cinematic genius to be true.

Full Review Source: MovieMartyr.com | comment Comment
03/05/02
Jeremy Heilman
Jeremy Heilman
MovieMartyr.com
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Sight and Sound | comment Comment
03/03/02
Xan Brooks
Xan Brooks
Sight and Sound
 
 
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