The Five Obstructions, Dir Jørgen Leth and Lars von Trier, Denmark/Switzerland/Belgium/France 2004
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- What Time is it There?
- Turtles Can Fly
- The Man Without A Past
- The Iron Ladies (Satree lek)
- The Five Obstructions
- Ten
- Sophie Scholl
- Songs From The Second Floor
- Ring 2
- Ring 1 (Ringu)
- Osama
- Lovely Rita
- La Ciénaga
- Kitchen Stories
- Kandahar
- Iraq In Fragments
- In This World
- This Film Is Not Yet Rated
- Favela Rising
- Derrida
- Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner
- All About Lily Chou Chou
- Abouna (Our Father)
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The Five Obstructions
Lars von Trier, true to form, has a bizarre way of showing his regard for mentor Jørgen Leth whose 1967 short film "The Perfect Human," he claims to have seen 20 times. Von Trier challenges Leth to remake the film following an increasingly difficult set of "obstructions".
Lars von Trier, the Danish director of Breaking the Waves, Dancer in the Dark, and Dogville returns with a strange and brilliant meta-film. In 2000, he challenged his mentor, the veteran filmmaker Jorgen Leth, to a one-of-a-kind director's game: von Trier would give Leth rules, or obstructions, by which Leth would have to remake his own 1967 short film The Perfect Human five times. The first film, according to von Trier's rules, has to be composed of shots no longer than 12 frames and must be filmed in Cuba, without a set. Fast forward to Havana: Leth has found a solution to the difficulties and is making his film with confidence. With satanic glee, von Trier comes up with an even more constraining set of obstructions, clearly taking pleasure in torturing his former teacher. He attempts to find the most crippling rules and devises appropriate punishment when Leth fails to follow them.
Lars von Trier is no stranger to sadism: this is the man responsible for the abuse of Emily Watson, Bjork, and Nicole Kidman in his last three features. "he Five Obstructions makes it clear that his apparent mean streak is considered, focused, and aimed at a kind of creative catharsis. His agenda is to strip away the pretence, to get from the "perfect" to the "human," as he puts it.
Certificate: Not Rated
Dir Jørgen Leth and Lars von Trier
Starring Patrick Bauchau, Lars von Trier, Jørgen Leth, Jacqueline Arenal, Daniel Hernández Rodríguez, Alexandra Vandernoot, Marie Dejaer, and Marie Dejaer
Running time: 90 mins
Release Date: May 2004
Countries: Denmark / Switzerland / Belgium / France
Language: Danish, English, French & Spanish w/English subtitles
Format available: 35mm/digi
"****1/2 Visually inspiring, complex, oblique and deliriously original...all of it a demonstration of creative genius." Big Issue
"...an engaging testimony to the power of human creativity in all situations." Canberra Times
"In only 90 minutes it encourages you to reexamine the nature of cinema, the sources of creativity, the unexpected joys of the unanticipated moment. And it couldn't be more fun to watch." Los Angeles Times
"Hilarious...beautifully shot...an essential film for anyone with even half an interest in cinema" Screen International
"A fascinating meditation on filmmaking and a remarkable intellectual exercise." BBC Film