The Idiots (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)

Stars:

Bodil Jørgensen, Jens Albinus, Anne Louise Hassing

6 wins & 5 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 aimless, non-creative and non-responsible form intellect 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 film starts as they recruit a new lost soul and introduce her to their megalomaniac leader.

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Plot Keywords:

explicit sex | experimental film | orgy | dogme 95 | public nudity | 

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Taglines:

You're a whole lot dumber than you think

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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

Did You Know?

Trivia

Infamously, English critic Mark Kermode got thrown out of the screening at the Cannes film festival for loudly heckling the film and yelling "il est merde!" at the screen on multiple occasions (French for the vulgar critique, "this is shit").

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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

Stoffer: You've no bloody talent at any rate.

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Alternate Versions

To avoid an NC-17 rating, the U.S. distributor used black bars to cover all shots of male genitals and penetration during the orgy scene.

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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

Marvellous entertainment

Although this is the second 'Dogme' film, this was the first that I saw. It began rather unsettlingly in a restaurant and from there the entertainment only went up, as the group of 'Idiots' became more in touch with their inner selves. Showing themselves to be as vulnerable as the rest of the human race rather than special observers which they pretended to be brought them to the point of breakdown. Karen, who wasn't part of the insular group to begin with, gets taken along as things escalate, is shown to be a genuinely tragic figure. This film is definitely worth seeing.

Details

Official Sites:

Dogme 95 collective

Country:

Denmark France Netherlands Germany Sweden Italy

Language:

Danish

Release Date:

21 May 1998 (France)

Also Known As:

The Idiots

Filming Locations:

Denmark

Box Office

Budget:

$2,500,000 (estimated)

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