The Idiots (1998)
"Idioterne"
Director
Lars Von Trier
Writing credits
Lars von Trier
Cast
Bodil Jørgensen
... Karen
Jens Albinus ... Stoffer
Anne Louise Hassing ... Susanne
Troels Lyby ... Henrik
Nikolaj Lie Kaas ... Jeppe
Henrik Prip ... Ped
Luis Mesonero ... Miguel
Louise Mieritz ... Josephine
Knud Romer Jorgensen ... Axel
Trine Michelsen ... Nana
Anne-Grethe Bjarup Riis ... Katrine
Paprika Steen ... High Class Lady
øErik Wederse ... Svend, Stoffer's Uncle
Michael Moritzen ... Man from Municipality
Anders Hove ... Josephine's Father
Jan Elle ... Waiter
Claus Strandberg ... Guide at Factory
øJens Jrn Spottag ... Boss at Advertising Agency
John Martinus ... Man in Morning-jacket
Lars Bjarke ... Rocker #1
Ewald Larsen ... Rocker #2
Christian Friis ... Rocker #3
Louise B. Clausen ... Rocker Girl
Hans Henrik Clemensen ... Anders, Karen's Husband
Lone Lindorff ... Karen's Mother
üErno Mller ... Karen's Grandfather
Regitze Estrup ... Louise, Karen's Sister
Lotte Munk ... Britta, Karen's Sister
Marina Bouras ... Axel's Wife
Julie Wieth ... Woman with 2 Kids
Kirsten Vaupel ... Art Class Lady #1
Lillian Tillegren ... Art Class Lady #2
Birgit Conradi ... Art Class Lady #3
Albert Wichmann ... High Class Man
Peter Førge ... Man in the Swimmingpool
Bent Sørensen ... Taxi Driver
Jesper Sønderaas ... Svendsen at Advertising Agency
Ditlev Weddelsborg ... Severin at Advertising Agency
Svend Erik Plannthin ... Mongol
Torben Meyrowitsch ... Mongol
Lis Bente Petersen ... Mongol
Palle Lorentz Emiliussen ... Mongol
Axel Schmidt ... Mongol
Iris Albøge ... Qualified Carer
Lars von Trier ... Interviewer (uncredited) (voice)
Produced by
Peter Aalbæk Jensen (executive)
Erik Schut (co-producer)
Marianne Slot (co-producer)
Vibeke Windeløv
Peter van Vogelpoel (co-producer)
Cinematography by
Casper Holm
Jesper Jargil
Kristoffer Nyholm
Lars von Trier
Film Editing by
Molly Marlene Stensgård
Casting
Marie Louise Hedegaard
Sound Department
Per Streit ... sound
Runtime Denmark:117
Denmark / France / Italy / Netherlands
Language Danish
Color
Sound Mix Dolby SR
STORY
The Idiots is about a
group of young people who share one interest: idiocy. With a large
house as their base, they spend all their spare time together
exploring the hidden and less appreciated values of idiocy. They
practise! The project is a manifestation of an explosive appetite
for life in which they confront society with their idiocy. Nothing
can be compared to the mutual feeling of success, every time their
personal limits are transcended in yet another scenario.
By accident Karen meets
3 members of the group and unintentionally she gets involved in
their little game. She gradually understands what they are up
to, and at first she is angry, but eventually she begins to participate
in their diversions.
Karen is different from
the idiots. She is from a segment of society that hasn't got time
to theorise over life and its qualities. She has been drifting
aimlessly, and conceals a sadness that comes to the surface every
now and then, but with the idiots she finds solace and understanding
without prying questions. Soon she's drawn by the group's satanic
games. She's attracted by their joy. And she becomes one of them.
For Axel, one of the members,
family life and work become more and more difficult, because the
idiots keep terrorising his everyday life. For fun at first, but
suddenly it isn't funny anymore. Axel isn't the only one to leave
as the idiocy escalates, but the departures only strengthen the
group's solidarity. Most stay; they want to live out the excessive
feelings, the aggression, the curiosity and the uncontrolled,
egotistical primitive sexuality.
It is as a measure of
the heights they scale that Stoffer suggests that they formalise
the group's solidarity. Everybody has to undergo the ultimate
test. A test that must be undergone at home, in front of their
nearest and dearest, and which will separate the sheep from the
goats. Only the seven strongest remain. Karen is the last one
of the group to undergo the test....
REVIEWS
"Artistic and intellectual
confusion in Lars von Trier's The Idiots" by By Stefan Steinberg
" A strange silence settled in amongst the critics..."
by Edward Champion
" This is the second film made under the label of Dogma 95..."
by Dennis Schwarts
" In Danish filmmaker's Lars Von Trier's Idiots... by Harlan
Jacobson
