The Idiots (Danish: Idioterne) is a 1998 Danish comedy-drama film written and directed by Lars von Trier. It is his first film made in compliance with the Dogme 95 Manifesto, and is also known as Dogme #2. It is the second film in von Trier's Golden Heart Trilogy, preceded by Breaking the Waves (1996) and succeeded by Dancer in the Dark (2000). It is among the first films to be shot entirely with digital cameras.
A seemingly anti-bourgeois group of adults spend their time seeking their "inner idiot" to release their inhibitions. They do so by behaving in public as if they were developmentally disabled.
At a restaurant, patrons are disturbed by the group's mischief, but
single diner Karen develops an appreciation of their antics. The members
of the group refer to this behaviour as "spassing", a neologism derived from "spasser", the Danish equivalent of "spaz"
and an offensive slur. Karen takes a ride in a taxi cab with the people
from the restaurant, and she finds herself at a big house. The apparent
leader of the group, Stoffer, is supposed to be selling the house
(which belongs to his uncle), but instead it becomes the focal point for
group activities.
The "spassing" is a self-defeating attempt by the group to challenge
the establishment through provocation. The self-styled idiots feel that
the society-at-large treats their intelligence uncreatively and
unchallengingly; thus, they seek the uninhibited self-expression that
they imagine a romantic ideal of disability will allow.
Stoffer, at his birthday party, wishes for a "gangbang",
and both clothes and inhibitions are soon discarded.
Then when Stoffer
calls for the group members to let idiocy invade their personal daily
lives, Karen takes up the challenge. She takes Susanne back to her
house, where they are greeted by surprise by Karen's mother. Karen had
been missing for two weeks, following the death of her young baby; she
offers no explanation of where she has been. Karen attempts to spaz in
front of her family by dribbling the food she is eating, but this
results in a violent slap from her husband, Anders. Karen and Susanne
leave the house.
No comments:
Post a Comment