Direktøren for det hele (2006)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Lars von Trier

Writer:

Lars von Trier (writer)

Release Date:

8 December 2006 (Denmark)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

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.

Plot Keywords:

Actor | Firm | Boss | Business | Negotiation

Awards:

6 nominations

Cast

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
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Lars von Trier	...	Narrator (uncredited)

Directed by
Lars von Trier

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Lars von Trier		writer

Produced by
Lene Børglum	....	executive producer
Meta Louise Foldager	....	producer
Peter Aalbæk Jensen	....	executive producer
Signe Jensen	....	producer
Skuli Fr. Malmquist	....	co-producer
Thor Sigurjonsson	....	co-producer
Marianne Slot	....	co-producer
Vibeke Windeløv	....	producer

Film Editing by
Molly Marlene Stensgård

Set Decoration by
Simone Grau

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Kristoffer Nyholm	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Peter Albrechtsen	....	sound assistant: pre-production
Kristian Eidnes Andersen	....	sound
Alex Hudd	....	sound consultant: dolby
Ad Stoop	....	sound

Visual Effects by
Peter Hjorth	....	Automavision developer

Camera and Electrical Department
Søren Pedersen	....	clapper loader
Claus Rosenløv Jensen	....	camera operator

Editorial Department
Sune F. Andersen	....	assistant editor
Julia Bloch	....	assistant editor
Bodil Kjærhauge	....	assistant editor
Karen Maarbjerg	....	post-production coordinator

Other crew
Lina Bach Christensen	....	production coordinator
Linda Daae	....	continuity
Peter Hartwig	....	software developer
Janus Schumacher	....	production assistant
Marie Sonne-Jensen	....	assistant to producer

Production Companies

• Zentropa Productions
• Memfis Film (co-production)
• Slot Machine (co-production)
• Lucky Red (co-production)
• Pain Unlimited GmbH Filmproduktion (co-production)
• Trollhättan Film AB (co-production)
• Liberator Productions (collaboration)
• Orione Cinematografica (co-production)
• Zik Zak Kvikmyndir (collaboration)
• Film i Väst (co-production)
• Sveriges Television (SVT) (co-production)
• Det Danske Filminstitut (co-production)
• Filmstiftung North Rhine Westphalia (co-production)
• Nordisk Film- & TV-Fond (co-production)
• Icelandic Film Center (co-production)
• Canal+ (with the participation of)

Distributors

• Bir Film (2006) (Turkey) (all media)
• A-Film Distribution (2007) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• ArtCam (2007) (Czech Republic) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• CP Classics (2007) (Russia) (theatrical)
• Diffusion Pictures (2007) (UK) (theatrical)
• IFC Films (2007) (USA) (theatrical)
• IFC First Take (2007) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Lucky Red (2007) (Italy) (theatrical)
• Nordisk Film Biografdistribution (2007) (Denmark) (theatrical)
• Seville Pictures (2006) (Canada) (theatrical)
• A-Film Distribution (2009) (Belgium) (all media)
• A-Film Distribution (2009) (Luxembourg) (all media)
• A-Film Home Entertainment (2007) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Alpha Medienkontor (2009) (Germany) (all media)
• ArtCam (2009) (Czech Republic) (all media)
• ArtCam (2009) (Slovakia) (all media)
• Budapest Film (2009) (Hungary) (all media)
• California Filmes (2009) (Brazil) (all media)
• Central Partnership (2009) (Russia) (all media)
• Golem Distribución (2009) (Spain) (all media)
• Green Light Films (2009) (Iceland) (all media)
• Gutek Film (2009) (Poland) (all media)
• Independent Film '97 (2009) (Romania) (all media)
• LNK Audiovisuais (2009) (Portugal) (all media)
• Les Films Séville (2009) (Canada) (all media)
• Les Films du Losange (2009) (France) (all media)
• Medusa Home Entertainment (2007) (Italy) (DVD)
• Shani Films (2009) (Israel) (all media)
• Sonet Film (2009) (Denmark) (all media)
• Sonet Film (2009) (Finland) (all media)
• Sonet Film (2009) (Sweden) (all media)
• TV2 Norge (2009) (Norway) (all media)
• Zentropa Real ApS (2007) (Denmark) (all media)

Other Companies

• Soundtrack  trailer

Also Known As:

The Boss of It All (Germany) (International: English title)
Direktören för det hele (Sweden)
Il grande capo (Italy)
Le direktør (France)

Runtime:

99 min

Country:

Denmark | Sweden | Iceland | Italy | France | Norway | Finland | Germany

Language:

Danish | Icelandic | English | Russian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Argentina:13 | Netherlands:6 | Singapore:M18 | Italy:T (original rating) | Italy:VM14 (re-rating) | Brazil:16 | South Korea:18 | Australia:MA | Norway:10 (TV rating) | USA:Not Rated

Company:

Zentropa Productions

Trivia:

A number of visual elements were hidden in the danish distribution of this film. These visual elements, called "Lookeys", were part of a contest to find them all. The first finder was to get a price and a role as an extra in an upcoming film.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Skuespillerne for det hele (2007) (V)

Koncept Komedy

In Lars von Trier's small-scale, Automavision (computer-edited) Danish-language film comedy Ravm (Peter Gantzler) is the spineless (but mean) CEO of an IT company. He's such a people-pleaser he's hidden his real rank all along so the staff won't resent his more unpopular decisions. Now on the verge of selling the company out from under them, he calls in a "self-important, out-of-work" actor, Kristoffer (Jens Albinus) to play the role of "boss of it all"—be his front man by proxy to sign the papers. Lars himself pops up at the middle and end as a voice and at the beginning as a voice and a reflection—just long enough to mock himself and us. He also makes fun of Danes for their sentimentality and giggling and chatter, and, because the buyers of the company are Icelandic, he makes fun of Icelanders for their over-reliance on their ancient sagas and their petulant rages.

Americans don't take a beating this time, though there's one American member of the company cadre, Spencer (Jean-Marc Barr) who's completely ineffectual around the office because he can't finish a sentence in Danish. Lars has lots of fun with actors here, and of course with offices and corporate manipulations. Kristoffer has some kind of quixotic idol called Gambini whose "masterpiece" is a droning monologue of a chimney sweep. He puts soot on his forehead for luck when embarking on his role. As the boss, previously known to staff via e-mails only as Svend E., Kristoffer is completely inept, but the six-person startup cadre members nonetheless react to him as if he were the real deal and are variously ready to beat up, have sex with, or marry him. The women act like woman (with especially nice turns by Iben Hjejle and Mia Lyhne), and the men act like children. They weren't even meant to see him: that's just the first thing that goes wrong—due to the actor's excessive zeal, he goes and introduces himself. As he gets in deeper and deeper—with zero preparation—he finds himself constantly begging Ravm for secret coaching sessions "on neutral ground" (which includes the zoo). But these do nothing to limit his amazing ability to gum up the works for everybody, especially Ravm. Things turn farcical when Finnur's lawyer shows up and turns out to be Kristoffer's ex-wife, Kisser (Sofie Grabol). Will she give away the game?

This all makes a lot of sense if you've seen Von Trier's earlier film, the semi-documentary The Five Obstructions (2003), in which he and his film-making mentor Jørgen Leth teamed up to provide, indirectly, a kind of skeleton-key to his mind. The Dogme film-making "vow of chastity" reflects von Trier's own masochistic, Brechtian, but—given the grimness of some of his film content—surprisingly playful need to be forever imposing new rules and limitations that challenge actor, filmmaker, and audience. The Five Obstructions, where the director spars with mentor Leth, shows that he's also an affectionate and modest tease. "Although you can see my reflection, this film won't be worth a moment's reflection," is his personal opener to The Boss of It All.

That "moment's reflection" von Trier says we won't need suggests on the contrary how reflexive and cleaver all this actually is. The film, which could be seen as a sort of droll, deadpan parody of "The Office" (though von Trier says he hasn't even seen the TV series), is a set of characters and premises that create their own movie, just as the computer editing device does. And just as we're startled and appalled at times by the ugliness of shifting light and sound levels and pointless jump cuts the Automavision produced, von Trier and his actors may have been surprised at how some of the set-ups turned out. Will Svend, AKA Kristoffer, sign over the company to the growling Icelander, Finnur (Fridrik Thor Fridriksson)? Even he doesn't know. He has to "consult" his "character." And that makes him, like Lars, a big tease. The Boss of It All may be more intriguing than funny—and there will be those, primed too intensely by Dogville and Manderlay, who'll see it as merely cruel and misanthropic, but it's a complete change from his recent stuff, and yet utterly in character.