The Idiots

I really do have such a love hate relationship with Lara Von Trier’s work. It’s certainly interesting watching one of his earlier projects. There’s a very narcissistic element to his filmmaking in the way of trying to shock the audience to the point where they almost hate him. I think he gets off on that (which becomes more obvious in interviews with the man and his later meta material). Overall, I think there’s a side to this film that is very much going for that in terms of the sex stuff and the general concept but there’s also more heart and humanity which I’ve found to be missing from some of his other movies. I do think this era of Dogme 95 cinema has rippled through the aesthetics of up and coming filmmakers today which is pretty commendable. With all that said, you would definitely not be able to make this kind of film today and I think for the most part, that’s a good thing. I think that viewer sensitivity is a key part of connecting to the audience and should be respected in the creative process. This would defo leave a lot of people feeling gross and cold. But that’s exactly what Lars wants, that fucking creepy freakazoid.