The Idiots (Idioterne) (Dogma 95) (1998)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Drew S

  
  Wonderful on many levels - as an (aborted) excursion into a new film form, and the bizarre attention that it brought to the progenitor who immediately abandoned it; as a source of perverse entertainment turned desperate tragedy; as a look into metafilm and levels of reality. It… More
  Wonderful on many levels - as an (aborted) excursion into a new film form, and the bizarre attention that it brought to the progenitor who immediately abandoned it; as a source of perverse entertainment turned desperate tragedy; as a look into metafilm and levels of reality. It doesn't seem like there's a lot going on in The Idiots, but between its guiltless waltzing from genre to genre, the clashing ideologies of both the characters and the story itself, and the greater ramifications of being a Dogme 95 film and what it's implicitly saying about its cast and director, there's some serious thought behind that ugly exterior. This will not be an easy watch for many understandable reasons, and I think it's fair to call it offensive, obnoxious or even incomplete. I just think it's fascinating. I enjoyed watching the film with the Dogme Vow of Chastity in mind and wondering what limitations that imposed on von Trier and his crew. The performances he draws from his cast, unhesitantly authentic, are also enthralling when placed in a documentary context. Tensions were high between von Trier and his players, and there's a palpable parallel between how the "spassers" disintegrate and how his own harmonious set begins to fall apart. In fact, there's a very thorough and elaborate byline on which the events of this film, Dogme 95, and the work of Von Trier all operate, with thinly constructed notions of "reality" where other layers of their respective worlds can't help but leak in. Maybe the film's success as a conventional narrative in the medium is arguable, but I think it's an excellent auteurial curio and an exceptional think piece. It's also sort of hilarious in a way that becomes very dark with a gut-punch of an ending. As with just about all of von Trier's work - not for everyone, but worth at least giving a shot.

• Dean M

  
  Astounding, brave, funny and touching cult film. I find it hard to understand how so much has been said about the "lack" of production values or the nudity in this movie, which to me aren't even worth mentioning, but hardly anyone comments about how astounding the… More
  Astounding, brave, funny and touching cult film. I find it hard to understand how so much has been said about the "lack" of production values or the nudity in this movie, which to me aren't even worth mentioning, but hardly anyone comments about how astounding the ACTING is! The actors in this, and in Lars Von Triers' previous <i>Breaking The Waves</i>, display completely realistic acting very rarely (if ever!) seen in Hollywood. But if you want a funny, dirty, smart, irritating, and even infuriating satire of both the bourgeoisie and the bohemians who oppose it, then <i>The Idiots</i> is for you. Von Trier has assembled a furiously talented cast of unknowns to spin this tale of a Danish commune that pretends - to the horror of the middle class masses that surround it - to be a private institution for "retards" and "spastics".

• Arash X

  
  Ok, Vinterberg's Festen was a great start to Dogme 95 but Lars von Trier's Idioterne as the second Dogme 95 film is a huge disappointment, Pretentious & dumb to the core

• Anthony L

  
  Dark, cruel and utterly hilarious. It will make you uncomfortable and make you laugh at the same time. People often refer to Festen as being the funniest 'alternative' film but I think the Idiots beats it hands down. Brilliant.

• Emily A

  
  This is a really strange movie, but I kind of liked it. I think it kind of ran out of steam near the end, but it was pretty funny. It's hard to imagine someone pulling off a premise like this with any type of skill - I mean, look at The Ringer. I'm not even entirely sure… More
  This is a really strange movie, but I kind of liked it. I think it kind of ran out of steam near the end, but it was pretty funny. It's hard to imagine someone pulling off a premise like this with any type of skill - I mean, look at The Ringer. I'm not even entirely sure what it was about this movie I liked. It is something to see, though.

• Eric B

  
  Lars Von Trier's "The Idiots" was the second feature made under the prickly "Dogme 95" manifesto, which dictates severe limitations such as on-location shooting, hand-held camera, no extravagant action and purely diegetic music (this film's only score is… More
  Lars Von Trier's "The Idiots" was the second feature made under the prickly "Dogme 95" manifesto, which dictates severe limitations such as on-location shooting, hand-held camera, no extravagant action and purely diegetic music (this film's only score is some lonely quotes from Saint-Saens, played on what sounds like one-finger accordion). The rules obviously don't forbid letting the boom mike slip into the frame, however -- this happens countless times here. Such factors would make any movie rather rough and inaccessible, but the premise of "The Idiots" is amply abrasive on its own. A troop of twentysomething rebels go around twitching and mugging like mentally disabled misfits, enjoying the public embarrassment they cause. Seemingly, this represents some sort of political protest -- they revel in the resulting freedom that they couldn't have otherwise? Such scenes are predictably hard to watch, and even go so far as one prankster letting a man take him to a urinal and hold his penis for him. And that's not the only explicit image -- there's also a tight shot of another actor's erection, a sustained view of thrusting sexual penetration and various other moments of casual nudity. Rest assured that none of this is remotely arousing. We experience these antics through the eyes of Karen, a withdrawn, fragile woman who has been newly lured into joining the group. She is not too likable (none of the characters are) but, eventually, the film gains some shape through filling in her background. If you think Harmony Korine is an overlooked genius, you will love "The Idiots." Otherwise, you'll find this an interesting experiment at best.

• Janno D

  
  The cinematic equivalent of a knife in your gut. The Idiots is altogether a complex, maddening, devastating, kaleidoscopic one-of-a-kind viewing experience. Compared to its more triumphant film-brother Festen, this is an underrated Dogme 95 work that lobs a searing, scathing critique… More
  The cinematic equivalent of a knife in your gut. The Idiots is altogether a complex, maddening, devastating, kaleidoscopic one-of-a-kind viewing experience. Compared to its more triumphant film-brother Festen, this is an underrated Dogme 95 work that lobs a searing, scathing critique to society, Hollywood and sanitised audience expectations.

• Mike T

  
  I have intense admiration for this film based on principle alone. It's an excellent feat for any filmmaker to make such a legitimately bold and original work. The amazing thing is that Von Trier doesn't just make something unique, but something intricate and profound and… More
  I have intense admiration for this film based on principle alone. It's an excellent feat for any filmmaker to make such a legitimately bold and original work. The amazing thing is that Von Trier doesn't just make something unique, but something intricate and profound and upsetting and hilarious. And, according to production stories, he wrote the screenplay in under a week. This is one of the groundbreaking movies of the 1990s, and it features a cast of some of the best actors I have ever seen. Every single performance in this film is pitch-perfect... characterization does not get more detailed than this.

• Ed Fucking H

  
  Controversial director Lars Von Triers first and only 'official' Dogme film is an intresting and often humourous exploration of outsiders who impersonate mentally handicapped people to scam the upper and middle classes out of their money and to break out of the confines of… More
  Controversial director Lars Von Triers first and only 'official' Dogme film is an intresting and often humourous exploration of outsiders who impersonate mentally handicapped people to scam the upper and middle classes out of their money and to break out of the confines of square society. The results are pretty good and there is a lot to enjoy here if you enjoy lo-fi movies that are more idea based than story or character. Not to say the film is absent of story or characters, where it really works is in it's ideas though, both stylistically and conceptually. The film isn't going to be for everybody and I can't even quite put my finger on what I enjoyed so much about this one, where I can with the other Von Trier films I have seen thus far. This is only the second official Dogme film I've seen (the first being Harmony Korines Julien Donkey Boy, one of my favourite films ever). I have to say that I really like this style. It basically takes a shit on boring big budget Hollywood movies that I despise and represents Hollywoods antithesis. Squares should be warned that there is some unsimulated sex in this movie, lots of nudity (both female and male) and the basic idea of the premise will make PC bores uncomfortable for sure so if these things bother you steer clear. Otherwise I'd recommend this film to all fans of alternative/bizarre/strange film.

• Dimitris S

  
  Higly poignant,a decent transgressive behavior over society's....private fraud.Oh Lars,you fell on the Dogme trap you yourself were so proud of.Camera is focusing but without a challenge,an information dot and required elaboration,what can I do with an empty stomach?

• Ivan D

  
  My first Von Trier experience, and I was greeted by a complex film about young educated professionals who looks at idiocy as a means to escape reality. The film almost runs like a documentary, filled with natural performances by the unknown actors. At first, it almost runs like a… More
  My first Von Trier experience, and I was greeted by a complex film about young educated professionals who looks at idiocy as a means to escape reality. The film almost runs like a documentary, filled with natural performances by the unknown actors. At first, it almost runs like a comedy, but the second-half immediately became more emotional. The sex sequences might disgust some, especially the split second penetration scene and many frontal nudities, but I am sure that there is something deeper about this film that I can't really quite pinpoint. The final heart-wrenching scene was the film's best moment, a scene with such simple images but blew me away with the intensely subtle emotions surrounding the scene. "The Idiots" is an overkill in terms of the graphic sexual encounters, but in terms of the meaning, it is very deep and that it is relevant to our society today. "It is not me who pokes fun, it is THEM who pokes fun", mentions the leader Stoffer, and for a moment, I thought he was right.

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