The Boss of It All (2006)
"Direktøren for det hele" (original title)

An IT company hires an actor to serve as the company's president in order to help the business get sold to a cranky Icelander.

Director:

Lars von Trier

Writer:

Lars von Trier

Stars:

Jens Albinus, Peter Gantzler, Friðrik Þór Friðriksson

1 win & 6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview:
Jens Albinus	...	Direktøren for det hele / Kristoffer / Svend E
Peter Gantzler	...	Ravn
Friðrik Þór Friðriksson	...	Finnur (as Fridrik Thor Fridriksson)
Benedikt Erlingsson	...	Tolk
Iben Hjejle	...	Lise
Henrik Prip	...	Nalle
Mia Lyhne	...	Heidi A.
Casper Christensen	...	Gorm
Louise Mieritz	...	Mette
Jean-Marc Barr	...	Spencer
Sofie Gråbøl	...	Kisser
Anders Hove	...	Jokumsen

Storyline

The owner of an IT firm wants to sell up. The trouble is that when he started his firm he invented a nonexistent company president to hide behind when unpopular steps needed taking. When potential purchasers insist on negotiating with the "Boss" face to face the owner has to take on a failed actor to play the part. The actor suddenly discovers he is a pawn in a game that goes on to sorely test his (lack of) moral fibre.

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Plot Keywords:

actor | firm | boss | business | negotiation | 

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [dk] Official site [dk] (English)

Country:

Denmark Sweden Iceland Italy France Norway Finland Germany Spain

Language:

Danish Icelandic English Russian

Release Date:

8 December 2006 (Denmark)

Also Known As:

The Boss of It All

Box Office

Budget:

€3,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$10,052 (USA) (25 May 2007)

Gross:

$51,300 (USA) (13 July 2007)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Zentropa Productions, Memfis Film, Slot Machine

Technical Specs

Runtime:

99 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This movie is shot with camera technique called Automavision, an innovation in which the camera angles and movements are selected by a computer. The media notes explain technique, "a principle for shooting film developed with the intention of limiting human influence by inviting chance in from the cold". There are odd framings and jump cuts within scenes making everything seem a bit unsettled.

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Connections

Remade as The Boss of It All

User Reviews

"Life is a Dogma film. It's hard to hear but the words are important."

"You have a knack for deliberate mental cruelty." "You're right, but I'm better at being irritating on an intuitive level."

With his often unlikely plotting, emphasis on stripped-down style over structure and fascination with stripping away the suspension of disbelief of most films to highlight their artificiality, it's fair to say that Lars Von Trier isn't to everyone's taste. After films like Breaking the Waves and Dancer in the Dark he also seems an unlikely candidate to try his hand at a comedy, but the mischievous sense of humour that's run through his work since the TV series The Kingdom finds a perfect outlet in The Boss of it All. The plot might seem almost as if it could do service as a mainstream Hollywood comedy, but in many ways it's the perfect match of premise and filmmaker.

Gambini-obsessed bad actor Kristoffer (Jens Albnus) is hired by Ravn (Peter Gantzler) to pretend to be the boss of the company he's planning to sell. Ravn has been the real boss of the company for years, but is so desperate to be liked by his staff that the only way he can pass on bad news is by blaming it all on an invisible owner in America. Despite the fact that at first Kristoffer reads far more into the text than there is ("It says far more than it says" he notes of his underwritten part: "I had hoped it would say as little as possible," replies the whiz-at-contracts Ravn), unfortunately, Ravn's so desperate not to be disliked that he doesn't fill Kristoffer in on the full script, expecting the hapless actor to improvise his way through a minefield of imaginary relationships the staff have created with him over the years. Finding himself alternately seduced, punched or engaged to them at various times, he soon discovers that the real boss of it all is a much better actor than he is...

The stage is set for a playful examination of the way people's vanity inevitably finds them playacting both at work and in their personal relationships in their desperation to either fit in or at least have an easy life, allowing Von Trier plenty of opportunities to take swipes at acting in general (and in Denmark in particular) as well as the vagaries of business politics. What's surprising is how funny much of it is, from Kristoffer's obsession with getting to the 'truth' of his character (complete with dramatic pauses and would-be burning looks that just confuse people) to the obnoxious saga-obsessed Icelandic tycoon who wants to settle 400 years of national humiliation by humiliating the Danish company. And running through it all is a sly commentary on movie-making and the power struggle between actor and director (the Danish title is Direktøren for det Hele). Of course, humour is a personal thing, and it may be funnier if you've worked in that kind of office environment or know enough self-obsessed actors to recognise the absurdity, and for some Von Trier's interruptions to comment on the film or his use of computer-chosen camera angles that don't always capture the action and give some of the film a disjointed feel will take them out of the film or simply irritate. But if you're on the right wavelength, there's a lot of fun to be had with The Boss of It All.