Having seen and been blown away by the integrity, power, humour and intelligence of Festen (the first Dogme film by Thomas Winterberg), I was looking forward to see how the 'super star' of the genre would perform.
Well, the contrast could not have been wider.
Despite the constraints of the manifesto, Feston is well filmed, directed and acted and shows how the principle of the manifesto are not a bar to creating a quality work of art. The Idiots by contrast feels very much to be a student project, where the ego of the director is the most important thing on show, as he very obviously sticks to fingers up to societal norms like a precocious teenagers first rails against his parents. However. approaching the year 2000, sex as a means to shock is pretty passe and whilst the use of disability/mental health is more brave it is a pretty shallow attempt with the poor quality of the general film making detracting from any points that might have been made (even if those points are pretty thin, and again feel like the naive fumblings of an undergraduate rather than a progressive experimental film maker with an advanced social conscience).
Interesting as a point in history in an influential movement but adds very little cinematically.
Review of The Idiots
