The Idiots (1998)
As one of the main people involved in the Dogme95 movement, it is strange that Lars von Trier has only made one film as part of the movement, this being that film. This is my second film under that movement, following The Celebration (I smell a marathon) and as the opening shot has music playing with no clear source within the film, I was already calling von Trier on violations of the manifesto. Such is my familiarity with the rules. Other things, to which von Trier, in the tradition of Dogme95, confessed would be impossible to discern just from watching.
Anyway, the film starts with Karen sitting down to a meal at a fairly fancy restaurant and revealing that she is of limited means. She sees another table where two seemingly developmentally disabled men are dining with a female caretaker and when their behavior starts getting out of control the waiter ejects them and through developments, Karen comes along (the better to avoid paying for the bill) and falls into their group. We find out that they are a group that practices "spazzing" or acting like they have a disability, mental or physical.
Now, you can think these characters are despicable for what could be seen as mocking performances or you can see them as getting at a real social issue about the treatment of those with disabilities but the film itself I think is effective in broaching the topic at an angle. Yet the broader statement is about shunning the conventions and expectations that make us unhappy. In this way it isn't so different from Trainspotting a couple years earlier, though they turned to heroin. But as can be expected, this sort of idealism runs head-on against real life concerns. I also see some trends within the group that are explored in more detail in Together a couple years later and the way a group of idealists like this can often come to conflict, especially when some aren't pure enough for others.
This film certainly qualifies for the marathon through its inclusion of tons of nudity (full frontal from vitally every main actor and actress) including one brief scene of explicit sex (using body doubles in contravention of Dogme95). Yet this mature content almost seems a bit passe compared to the extremeness or rudeness of the general concept. On the other hand, I've never seen so many boom mics fall into frame so this film is extreme in the roughness of the filmmaking as well I suppose.
The funny story here is that Mark Kermode, a reviewer I generally find myself agreeing with, actually stood up after the Cannes screening and shouted "It is shit" in broken French, which I guess is part of why he's got a fairly rough relationship with the Cannes festival (something that von Trier himself now can claim). But in the case of The Idiots, I greatly disagree with the good doctor. I found this an ultimately fairly charming bit of filmmaking with many a touching moment fit in among the nonsense. It is my new favorite von Trier.
5/5