The Idiots

For many a month I have been waiting to see Lars von Trier’s Dogme 95 debut feature ‘The Idiots’. For me, von Trier has been responsible for some of the most intelligent, thought provoking and confrontational cinema over the past decade. I found both ‘Dogville’ and’ Manderlay’ extremely interesting in their approach to improvisation and theatrical experimentation, while last year’s ‘Antichrist’ provided one of 2009’s surprise highlights, boasting two of the years most outstanding performances from Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg.

‘The Idiots’, however, is possibly one of the worst films I have seen in a very, very long time. It is a film of unbridled stupidity, sloppily disguised as a piece of taboo-shattering, art house cinema. Its premise; a group of able bodied and able minded adults pretend to be mentally handicapped in order to challenge society’s attitudes, as well as to get in touch with their own ‘inner idiot’. As ridiculous as this premise may sound, the film takes itself so seriously that one can only imagine how anyone involved failed to detect a sense of irony in the performances of the actors or the manner by which the subject matter was dealt. In some instances, the film glides dangerously close to becoming a parody of self-righteous, Gus van Sant-esque drivel. This pretentious plot or lack thereof, is at best flimsy, and at worst, insulting of its audience.

Stupidity and pretentiousness aside, ‘The Idiots’ is an appalling exercise in shameless shock tactics and unnecessary moments of controversy. In one particular sequence of laugh-out-loud ludicrousness, we see the group embark on a ‘spass (spaz) gangbang’ to further their journey towards their ‘inner idiot’. Just try saying this phrase aloud whilst maintaining a straight face, let alone a serious one. In an attempt to heighten the ‘realism’ and ‘gritty’ nature of this scene, von Trier uses scenes of actors having real sex. Quite what purpose this really serves, other than creating a fair amount of controversy and publicity for the film, is simply beyond me.

On reflection, all that can really be said about ‘The Idiots’ is that it is proof of the fact that even the best directors, even those such as the great Lars von Trier, are capable of producing moments of absolute, inexcusable, nonsensical rubbish. For anyone still interested in seeing ‘The Idiots’, if you feel that watching a group of people acting like 'retards' for two hours, whilst staging a ‘spaz gangbang’ to assist in their search for the ‘inner idiot’ sounds promising, this could be the film for you. If not, don’t bother.