The Boss of it All (Direktøren for det hele) Photos

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Cast

Jens Albinus
as Kristoffer

Peter Gantzler
as Ravn

Fridrik Thor Fridriksson
as Finnur

Benedikt Erlingsson
as Interpreter

Iben Hjejle
as Lise

Henrik Prip
as Nalle

Mia Lyhne
as Heidi A.

Casper Christensen
as Gorm

Louise Mieritz
as Mette

Jean-Marc Barr
as Spencer

Sofie Gråbøl
as Kisser

Anders Hove
as Jokumsen

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News & Interviews for The Boss of it All (Direktøren for det hele)

Critic Reviews for The Boss of it All (Direktøren for det hele)

Audience Reviews for The Boss of it All (Direktøren for det hele)

• May 26, 2014

  Lars von Trier once again surprised me with his witty writing and sharp direction. Direktøren for det hele is about an IT company where the so called "Boss" invented a plan to control his office by creating a persona of a CEO that never existed so he could blame all the problems on the imaginary persona. But then the owner had to sell the company, the buyer requested to meet the owner in person. So he decided to hire an actor instead to play the role. I love the ensemble, it's very clever and the dialogues were hilarious. I especially liked von Trier's attempt of using automavision, it's an unique idea that allows the camera to select the coordination of the shots and audio processing at random. It's a clever little gem that should not be missed by Lars von Trier fans.
  

  Sylvester K Super Reviewer
• May 10, 2014

  "I want it all, I want it all, I want it all, and I want it now!". You know, I can't really help but think that whenever I see this film's title, or at least I didn't up until I saw the film itself, which isn't quite as lively as Queen. No, people, the film does a decent job of showing that after he got a little more controlled with his filmmaking experimentation, Lars von Trier could keep things reasonably interesting without the Björk musical numbers from "Dancer in the Dark" and soundstage sets from "Dogville" and "Manderlay". ...More interesting is the fact that Björk musical numbers and soundstage sets really aren't that avant-garde compared to stylistic touches in some of von Trier's earlier work. I mean, seriously, the man is so fond of going off the usual beat and path that even when he does a film that is relatively traditionalist for him, it's a comedy, something that is definitely different from what he usually does. Well, I don't know, they also called "The Idiots" something of a comedy, and about the only funny thing about that film, outside of how often the boom mic dipped into shots, was the idea that people actually found it entertaining enough to consider it a comedy. Okay, this film is decidedly more entertaining than "The Idiots", so I don't reckon they were completely inaccurate when they called this von Trier film a comedy, although that's not to say that von Trier doesn't take the entertainment value off beat at times, with a number of factors. As with many of Lars von Trier's minimalist, maybe even intimate efforts, this film is actually not especially focused on fleshing out its characters, who are reasonably well-written and well-portrayed, but still seriously underdeveloped, saying only so much, and still somehow outstaying its welcome. Minimalist to begin with, underdeveloped, and still about 100 minutes in length, the film has a tendency to drag its feet, often something fierce, with excess material and repetitious filler which do enough of a number on a sense of pacing when not backed by a cold atmosphere. Once again abandoning musicality and other forms of classic stylistic flare, while keeping pace steady, von Trier's direction is about as plagued as it is graced with thoughtfulness, which is too often cold and dull, defusing bite that was never to be too firm. Even when you disregard von Trier's active enforcement of a sense of minimalism, this film's story is that of a comedy, or at least a borderline fluff piece, which is ultimately inconsequential, despite uniqueness and some interesting themes, and thinned out even further by naturally questionable elements to von Trier's interpretation. Von Trier is pretty toned down with his artistic liberties compared to many of his other films, but he can still get carried away with questionable stylization, both within technicality which is plagued by intentionally uneven sound mixing and jarring editing that often devolves to major jump cuts, - some of which don't even change up angles - and, of course, within storytelling that is kind of disjointed and occasionally abstractionist in what characterization it has. The film is weird, make no bones about it, and while it's still not so far out there that it falls flat into the mediocrity that claimed certain other efforts of this nature, it doesn't stand a chance of elevating beyond its developmental shortcomings, pacing problems, thinness and questionable stylizing, to the level of other von Trier films of the time. I don't suppose I'm asking that this film be "Dancer in the Dark", or "Dogville", or "Manderlay", but it should have done more, and yet, it still does enough right to get by past all of its problems, partly with the help of good looks. All but - nay - pretty decidedly inarguably the most consistently impressive form of style in this film is visual style that, even then, isn't all that rich or exceptionally dynamic, - continuing von Trier's recent movement towards less flash cinematographic tastes - yet still plays with a certain bluish chill to its palette that is distinct to the point of being truly haunting at times, as well as rather complimentary to a cold air that a dark comedy of this nature is defined by, even in concept. Needless to say, a cold story isn't exactly all that much of a meaty story, and it's not like improvable moves in the interpretation make it any easier to deny that, but there is still a certain intrigue to this somewhat refreshing take on a classic tale of finding your comeuppance after years of scheming, sold largely by, of all things, convincing performances. While not given the dramatic range found in performances of previous, more consequential Lars von Trier films, most every member of this film's colorful cast has a certain distinguished charm that, in all fairness, has some endearing material to ride on. Von Trier's script is underdeveloped, unevenly paced and questionably stylized with its probability and consistency, but as far as tonal changes in pace go, von Trier turns in a comedic script with relative success, delivering on clever dialogue and set pieces that are tasteful in their subtlety, yet still sharp enough to amuse adequately. The film is plenty witty, but as a dark comedy, it isn't all that riotous, or at least as colorful as it probably should be if it aims to compensate for heavy blows to entertainment value, for although there are highlights in von Trier's performance as screenwriter, they might not be enough to save the final product. No, what ultimately saves the final product is von Trier's performance as director, because as limp as many of his subtle touches are, there's a lot of subtlety to this film, and von Trier's delicacy, occasionally flavored up by some commendable stylistic touches, draw upon those light spots of color that end up going a long way in holding your attention. I suppose the film is a challenge, and not in the best sense, but it is a challenge reasonably worth having, because even though it's not exactly rewarding, it's endearing enough to entertain adequately, if inconsistently. When it comes time to shut down, even with all of the underdevelopment, the film still has time to get dully draggy and, as far as style is concerned, get carried away in its telling of a thin story, and that could ruin the final product as less than underwhelming, but through a handsome visual style and charismatic performances, in addition to clever scripting and thoughtful direction, "The Boss of It All" proves to be an adequate dark art comedy, in spite of its areas of artistic misguidedness. 2.5/5 - Fair
  Cameron J Super Reviewer
• Dec 01, 2010

  I think The Boss of it All is the only von Trier film I truly dislike. Breaking the Waves was another, initially, and though I definitely still have my misgivings about it a second viewing sort of brought me around on the film's merits. This is a marginally clever treatment of viewership and an unconventional look at comedy in general, but in the scope of his filmography I don't think it really offers anything new. The idea of him creating a comedy so heavily reliant on cliche that he himself has to apologize through narration for the film is sort of interesting, but the novelty doesn't sustain 98 minutes' worth of viewing. It's funny how intent can so radically change a comedy's reception. This is, all told, the most generic office comedy of errors you could possibly imagine, and some people seem to think it's exceptionally funny. It's really not even remotely on its own terms, with von Trier's lampshading providing the only real chuckles, and even that isn't all that inspired. Not recommended, unless you're hellbent on watching all of his films.
  Drew S Super Reviewer
• Jan 18, 2010

  Zzzzzzzzzzz..........
  Brody M Super Reviewer

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