Dogme 95'

"The Idiots" (feature clip)
Dir: Lars Von Trier
Premier: 1998
Viewed: 4/27/09



"Julian Donkey-Boy" (feature clip)
Dir: Harmony Korine
Premier: 1999
Viewed: 4/27/09


"My Own Private Idaho" (feature clip)
Dir: Gus Van Sant
Premier: 1991
Viewed: 4/27/09



"Freeway" (feature clip)
Dir: Matthew Bright
Premier: 1996
Viewed: 4/27/09



"The Celebration" (feature)
Dir: Thomas Vinterberg
Premier: 1998
Viewed: 4/30/09
Review: That was probably one of the most unsettling films I’ve watched all semester. But it was unsettling in a good way. I’ve read that one of the main reasons a story can lack “heart” (that intangible quality that causes audiences to truly warm up to the film and be satisfied by it) can from underdeveloped inter-character relationships. During this film’s exposition, we’re “trusted” with an all-too-candid look into the players in Christian’s family. It doesn’t take long for us to empathize (and in some cases, recognize) with the usual suspects of the average family reunion. Like a demolitions expert, the cast and crew must set the explosives in just the right places in the viewer’s mind. You know this is done sufficiently, when the main conflict is finally revealed, and the viewer crumbles from within.

I also have to mention one character in particular: Gbatokai. I didn’t envy that man. How would you feel to be talked into an international trip to meet a family in Switzerland, all of whom speak little to no English, and may or may not be blatantly hostile towards your social group. And how would you feel if one of those people took it upon themselves to turn the party into your own personal hell. It seemed to me that, as an innocent visitor, everything that happened in the film was also happening to that character. Way to stir the pot, though!Also the one lesbian/swinger character was a great strip of much needed comedy relief.

Having this be a Dogme 95’-style film was perfect for the subject matter. It served the exposition, in that we almost meet the characters through their eyes. Also, every terrible thing that happens in the later parts of the film is made that much more candid. Dogme 95’ films remind me of documentaries. The lighting and handheld cameras are similar to the equipment of an average person immortalizing a true moment. I hardly noticed the absent studio soundtrack. What a challenge it must be to produce a film this way. And yet how fulfilling it must be to have pulled it off.