Wonderful on many levels - as an (aborted) excursion into a new film form, and the bizarre attention that it brought to the progenitor who immediately abandoned it; as a source of perverse entertainment turned desperate tragedy; as a look into metafilm and levels of reality. It doesn't seem like there's a lot going on
in The Idiots, but between its guiltless waltzing from genre to genre, the clashing ideologies of both the characters and the story itself, and the greater ramifications of being a Dogme 95 film and what it's implicitly saying about its cast and director, there's some serious thought behind that ugly exterior. This will not be an easy watch for many understandable reasons, and I think it's fair to call it offensive, obnoxious or even incomplete. I just think it's fascinating. I enjoyed watching the film with the Dogme Vow of Chastity in mind and wondering what limitations that imposed on von Trier and his crew. The performances he draws from his cast, unhesitantly authentic, are also enthralling when placed in a documentary context. Tensions were high between von Trier and his players, and there's a palpable parallel between how the "spassers" disintegrate and how his own harmonious set begins to fall apart. In fact, there's a very thorough and elaborate byline on which the events of this film, Dogme 95, and the work of Von Trier all operate, with thinly constructed notions of "reality" where other layers of their respective worlds can't help but leak in. Maybe the film's success as a conventional narrative in the medium is arguable, but I think it's an excellent auteurial curio and an exceptional think piece. It's also sort of hilarious in a way that becomes very dark with a gut-punch of an ending. As with just about all of von Trier's work - not for everyone, but worth at least giving a shot.
October 27, 2010
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