Plot
The group of people gather at the house in Copenhagen suburb to break all the limitations and to bring out the "inner idiot" in themselves.
Release Year: 1998
Rating: 6.8/10 (13,769 voted)
Critic's Score: 47/100
Stars: Bodil Jørgensen, Jens Albinus, Anne Louise Hassing
Storyline A group of perfectly intelligent young people decide to react to society's cult of an aimless, non-creative and non-responsible form of intelligence by living together in a community of "idiots". Their main activity becomes going out into the world of "normal" people and pretending to be mentally retarded. They take advantage of this situation to create anarchy everywhere they go and try by every possible means to make people annoyed, disturbed, miserable, ridiculous, angered, and shocked. The films start as they recruit a new lost soul and introduced her to their megalomaniac leader.
Cast: Bodil Jørgensen
-
Karen
Jens Albinus
-
Stoffer
Anne Louise Hassing
-
Susanne
Troels Lyby
-
Henrik
Nikolaj Lie Kaas
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Jeppe
Louise Mieritz
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Josephine
Henrik Prip
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Ped
Luis Mesonero
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Miguel
Knud Romer Jørgensen
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Axel
Trine Michelsen
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Nana
Anne-Grethe Bjarup Riis
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Katrine
Paprika Steen
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High Class Lady
Erik Wedersøe
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Stoffer's Uncle
Michael Moritzen
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Man From Municipality
Anders Hove
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Josephine's Father
Taglines:
A film by idiots, about idiots, for idiots
Opening Weekend: $7,235
(USA)
(30 April 2000)
(2 Screens)
Gross: $845,001
(Denmark)
(19 November 1998)
Technical Specs
Runtime:|
South Korea:
(cut)
Did You Know?
Trivia:
Written in four days as part of the Dogma 95 Manifesto.
Goofs:
Incorrectly regarded as goofs:
This is a film that adheres to the 'Dogme 95' manifesto, so the usual goof rules do not necessarily apply. This includes shots of the crew, microphones and other equipment, as well as continuity errors.
Quotes:
[Susanne puts a "spastic" Ped behind the van's steering wheel]
Guide at Factory:
Who... is he driving? Susanne:
Responsibility does them good.
[Ped drives off recklessly]
User Review
Great
Rating: 9/10
While not quite at the same level as _Breaking the Waves_, the only other
Lars von Trier I have seen (his films are quite hard to come by in
Midwestern American video stores, you understand), _The Idiots_ is still a
great film, and, in some ways, is just as important.
I have to comment on a lot of the reviews I've seen for this movie. A lot of
viewers judge the film by the theories and views about the group's existence
(particularly the view spoken by the most outspoken of the Idiots, Stoffer).
This is surely not the way von Trier meant his audience to take the film. If
you paid any attention to the film, you'll notice that the Idiots' lifestyle
is never glamorized. Everyone's experience in the group ends in
embarrassment and despair. You should also note that none of the Idiots has
the same opinion of why they like to act the idiot. Stoffer might say that
they do it to upset the bourgeosie (I don't pretend to know how to spell
that word), but the next person might be doing it just to play around. The
artist (whose name escapes me at the moment) is doing it to become a better
artist, and the doctor is doing it almost for experiment. There is never a
reason for the groups' existence that the entire group agrees upon. This is
extremely important for understanding this film.
The way _The Idiots_ particularly hit me was in the characterizations. The
actors are so great in this film that they hit the level of: "Is this really
acting, or is it just being?" von Trier hit the same level in _Breaking the
Waves_. These actors were so good, their characters just jumped out of the
script. There are many characters, and only a few of them are characterized
in the script extensively. Stoffer, although not the main character, is the
most prominent character in the script. Many of the characters don't have
all that many lines or screen time, but I felt I knew them all well.
I also appreciated that it actually entertained me. I wasn't expecting to
enjoy it so much. It is often very, very funny (if offensive). It also
gripped me emotionally. I did not particularly comprehend the ending's
meaning, but it left me with a powerful emotion. I did have tears in my eyes
when I left the theater, and a lot of thoughts in my head. When a man
outside the theater stopped me to ask me how I liked it, my lips and my
brain were too dry to actually answer anything but, "I liked it. I liked it
a lot." 9/10
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