Idioten (1998)

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.

Director:

Lars von Trier (uncredited)

Writer:

Lars von Trier

Stars:

Bodil Jørgensen, Jens Albinus, Anne Louise Hassing

5 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Bodil Jørgensen	...	Karen
Jens Albinus	...	Stoffer
Anne Louise Hassing	...	Susanne
Troels Lyby	...	Henrik
Nikolaj Lie Kaas	...	Jeppe
Louise Mieritz	...	Josephine
Henrik Prip	...	Ped
Luis Mesonero	...	Miguel
Knud Romer Jørgensen	...	Axel
Trine Michelsen	...	Nana
Anne-Grethe Bjarup Riis	...	Katrine
Paprika Steen	...	High Class Lady
Erik Wedersøe	...	Stoffer's Uncle
Michael Moritzen	...	Man From Municipality
Anders Hove	...	Josephine's Father

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.

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Plot Keywords:

explicit sex | public nudity | group sex | orgy | dogme 95 | 

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Taglines:

Society is the mother of all Idiots

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong sexuality and nudity, and for language

Details

Official Sites:

Dogme 95 collective

Country:

Denmark Spain Sweden France Netherlands Italy

Language:

Danish

Release Date:

22 April 1999 (Germany)

Also Known As:

Idioten

Filming Locations:

Søllerød, Sjælland, Denmark

Box Office

Budget:

$2,500,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$7,235 (USA) (28 April 2000)

Gross:

$339,768 (Sweden) (3 November 2000)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Zentropa Entertainments, Danmarks Radio (DR), Liberator Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

117 min 110 min (cut)

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Was banned in UK Blockbuster stores because of a very short hardcore sex scene..

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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.

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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]

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Connections

References Dressed to Kill (1980)

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Soundtracks

The Swan
by Camille Saint-Saëns (as Camille Saint-Saens)

User Reviews

Astounding, brave, funny, touching.

Look I know jack about Dogme, but I know what I like and I like 'The Idiots'! A LOT.

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 Von Triers' previous 'Breaking The Waves', display completely realistic acting very rarely (if ever!) seen in Hollywood. So next time some Hollywood mediocre "actor" is up on the podium clutching their Oscar, force 'em to watch 'The Idiots' and see if they can pull off performances of this calibre! The "biker scene" in itself is one of the bravest, most funny/scary sequences I've ever seen in all my years of move watching!

While I think all the actors involved are faultless, I would single out Jens Albinus as Stoffer as being particularly outstanding. I hope to see him go on to bigger and better things. I say "better", but you won't find many contemporary movies "better" than 'The Idiots'!