The Five Obstructions

The Five Obstructions Photos

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Cast & Crew

Claus Nissen

The Perfect Man

Jørgen Leth

Director

Lars von Trier

Director

Peter Aalbæk Jensen

Executive Producer

Kim Hattesen

Cinematographer

Dan Holmberg

Cinematographer

Daniel Dencik

Film Editing

Morten Højbjerg

Film Editing

Marianne Christensen

Casting

Asger Leth

First Assistant Director

Asger Leth

Second Assistant Director

Vibeke Windeløv

Executive Producer

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Critic Reviews for The Five Obstructions

Audience Reviews for The Five Obstructions

• Oct 08, 2015

  The Five Obstructions is perfectly fine as a documentary. As with anything that has aspirations you will find those on either side that love or hate it. This is not a film that deserves such strong reactions. It is more like: let us try this challenge for fun and see if it comes out interesting. The Five Obstructions does come off as mildly interesting, especially for those who are interested in the creative process. It is not as good as a film as Hearts of Darkness but rather is at about the level of Lost in La Mancha. Really, it's fine.
  

  Super Reviewer
• May 04, 2014

  One of the most unusual films I've ever seen. Lars von Trier challenges Jørgen Leth to create Leth's short film under five obstructions. The two film makers communicated through the making of the films. It's not the documentaries that you see every day. Once again, Lars von Trier amazed me with his amazing creativity. I am in awe.
  

  Super Reviewer
• Nov 10, 2011

  The premise of "The Five Obstructions" suggests a pretentious egghead jerk-off but, surprisingly, this is one of director Lars Von Trier's most watchable films. Perhaps it's because his Danish comrade Jorgen Leth supplies so much of the content. In 1967, Leth directed a 13-minute short titled "The Perfect Human." It's a stark, colorless film where most action occurs within a shapeless, white void. There are just two onscreen actors. A man and a woman, drolly presented as the ultimate examples of our species, simulate various mundane behaviors while deadpan narrator Leth describes their activity. It's a film with a curious, aloof appeal that's difficult to articulate. Decades later, Von Trier tests his friend Leth to remake this short five times while obeying some perverse, arbitrary rules (or "obstructions"). Von Trier's apparent goal is to tear down the protective artifice of filmmaking and force Leth to "expose" himself. The stipulations include having no shot longer than 12 frames, Leth taking the lead role, filming in Cuba, filming in the most miserable location Leth knows (answer: a crowded Mumbai slum) and even making a cartoon (a form that both men openly detest). Von Trier is a notorious character with oft-observed sadistic tendencies and, indeed, there is something unsettling about his manner. His mix of cruel demands, polite demeanor and a tiny, crafty smile recalls Nazi stereotypes (regardless of his recent Hitler-related controversy). But the affectionate rapport between him and Leth is sweet. Also, the resulting five shorts are quite entertaining. "The Five Obstructions" is incredibly self-indulgent, but film nerds will enjoy this gentle battle of wits.
  

  eric b Super Reviewer
• Nov 17, 2010

  The penultimate film screened in the Lars von Trier course I took, this is a really fascinating, direct look at the obsession with mimicry and the simulacrum present in von Trier's previous work. It is, above all, a look at a supremely insecure auteur putting on a character with which to present his work to an expectant public, and the interface of that character with another director who seems wholly unconcerned with such frivolities. von Trier is as much a performer as the actors in the films he creates; his films cannot be comprehensively critically evaluated without looking at the singular creative force behind them, as auteur theory postulates. Here he turns the camera on himself, playing himself, playing an artist at odds with another artist, and the results are mind-boggling to say the least. We are meant to assume that he sees himself in Jorgen Leth in some capacity, especially as outlined by the final letter that he has Leth read, but more subtly in his attempts to "scar" Leth with the challenges he imposes upon him. Telling is von Trier's frustration when Leth rises to those challenges every single time. I think The Five Obstructions is valuable for how it reduces the concept of the auteur to a mere person, with his own foibles and defects. It doesn't necessarily divorce him from the art he creates; think of this somewhat as reality television for filmmakers, taking a pair of talented individuals and pitting them against each other in a series of challenges. The only catch here is that there is no reward, short of psychological fulfillment or defeat. Ultimately, the game is in von Trier's hands, and the way he plays it should hold considerable fascination for anyone interested in a thorough dissection of the personal process of filmmaking.
  

  Super Reviewer