The second UK release from the Dogma manifesto sees von Trier resting on his laurels as one of the most respected contemporary European film-makers. Pre-publicity focus has dwelled on the taboo-breaking set pieces rather than the theme of the film itself, so traditional audiences will no doubt be drawn by the prospect of their first glimpses of erect penises and penetration shots on British cinema screens - a watermark in British censorship, but can the film really justify it? The initial half of the film is merely an accumulation of such scenes, clearly aimed to shock bourgeois sensibilities, but British arthouse crowds are more liberal than von Trier gives credit for. (It is interesting to note however, that the BBFC passed this one completely uncut, yet saw fit to digitally obscure the hardcore penetration scene in 'Seul Contre Tous'). By the time of the hardcore 'gang bang', the film has travelled about as far as it can down this path, and after this a more conventional narrative is introduced as the dynamics within the group of 'spassers' begins to be explored. This feels almost like a cop-out to lend the film a purpose other than that of trying to be as 'groundbreakingly' offensive as possible, and it is around this point that the film really begins to drag. Here von Trier fails on both counts, as the Dogma manifesto forbids the use of 'genre-based narrative contrivance', yet the denouement is also perfunctory and ineffective. The change in tone as the film directs itself towards an artificial degree of closure is probably easiest to put down to the hurried nature in which the film was conceived and shot (it was apparently written in four days). He also fails on the 'absence of post-production effects', as a non-diegetic harmonica soundtrack intrudes at several points. Elsewhere his adherence to the Vow of Chastity seems forced and self-conscious beyond the call of amateurism or ease of production, such as in his insistence on unnecessary jump cuts. Given the seemingly restrictive nature of the movement, Thomas Vinterberg's film 'Festen', was far more entertaining than that of his mentor. That film remained watchable, albeit conventional, and the restrictions resulted in a unique visual style of its own. 'The Idiots' is a mish-mash of half-baked ideas and talking-point gratuity, with little interest other than to see how far the cast will go in front of the cameras.
Review of The Idiots
