28 out of 29 people found the following review helpful:

This film is something special

Philip Concannon from London, 13th July, 2004

Dogme number 2 revolves around a group of middle-class dropouts who spend their time pretending to be mentally and physically handicapped in public places. We see the group through the eyes of Karen who joins them out of curiousity as much as the need to fill a void in her life. The group continue to push each other to new heights of 'spazzing' and tensions also start to rise.

Lars Von Trier is a director who likes to provoke a reaction, any reaction, and he certainly succeeds with 'The Idiots'. Shocking, subversive and often very funny, the film defies description. Von Trier coaxes incredible performances from his fearless cast. Interesting and brave points are made about society's attitude to the disabled and instead of revulsion the group occasionally provokes our empathy. The film develops a cumulative power which makes the final scenes overpowering in their raw emotion.

Von Trier has an undeniable ability to find an exposed nerve and attack it mercilessly. While this means 'The Idiots' is often extremely uncomfortable viewing, it's a devastating experience. 'The Idiots' stands as one of the most important films of the 90's. Groundbreaking, original and simply brilliant.

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14 out of 14 people found the following review helpful:

Below the Knuckle

PeaceNick from Hampshire, 2nd March, 2004

Watch this for 5 minutes and you will be deeply offended. Sit it out and you will be amazed and startled and have a whole new perspective on life.

It would be easy to dismiss this film as an attack on the mentally handicapped. That falls way short of any real understanding. The Idiots act out "challenging behaviours" to find their "inner idiot". Their antics cause the "normal" people in the film to start acting in turn - acting as if they were perfectly tolerant and accepting - as they make excuses and edge away.

This film draws that out in a series of - let's face it - hilarious set pieces. As they go on, the tension mounts and you wonder where the film could possibly be going. Then you reach the final scene - 5 minutes of the most intense emotional brutality that would scare off 99.99% of all aspiring actors. Brilliant.

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8 out of 10 people found the following review helpful:

Spazadelic

DominicSender from , 8th November, 2005

This is a genuinly shocking and intelligent film that has certainly pushed out the boundaries of what can be shown in mainstream cinema. The film has some genuinly hilarious moments although I certainly felt guilty for laughing. If you are in anyway a prude or easily offended, don't go near this film.

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7 out of 10 people found the following review helpful:

Classic film.

A Customer from Middlesex, 10th June, 2004

You, must see this film.
It is a comedy , but not of a traditional style.Kick started the dogme movement,Lars Von Trier is a genius.

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strong theme poorly portrayed

tnike from from Ashton-under-Lyne, 1st June, 2009

I must admit, the theme of this film was very interesting but I felt it was badly let down by it being so highly ostentatious.

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I did find a lot of it boring

Ellesar from from London, 14th September, 2008

I can see that it is a 'daring' film that makes great demands on actors who rise to the challenge. I did not get very offended - I have worked with people with learning difficulties and it is interesting to see people with full intellectual capaicity challenge themselves in that way, but it is not that gripping a film. I suppose my main gripe is that it comes across as a bunch of middle class people choosing to break societies taboos on public and private behaviour, but they have the luxury to do so. Of course that is challenged in the film itself, but I still found it annoying - self indulgent intellectuals and other people who like to be 'different', and even here a lot of macho crap about who really dares to do this when real life is at stake. I couldn't give a toss if they could do it in front of family or colleagues - what does it prove when they do? Ultimately when Karen does so it is recognised by the other woman how inappropriate it is, that if you can not behave like that, then there are situations when you really should not. We do have a wider responsibility - our behaviour does affect how others feel, and respecting that is not weak or conformist.

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1 out of 1 people found the following review helpful:

Brave but just ok

A Customer from Sheffield, 23rd May, 2008

A very brave, dark film. Films that challenge you and make you uncomfortable are great. Not a great film, but a worthy one.

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A form of catharticism only possible in Western middle class society

Sharmella from , 10th May, 2008

I was expecting (and yes this is always a bad way to start watching a film) this film to push the boundaries of human behaviour and convey some kind of message about the society in which we live. Instead, I found the ideology of the group to be directed towards pure self indulgence and gratification with no other real concept.

I found the characters intensely annoying, with the exception of Karen. The leader is a spoilt, lost middle class fool with a chip on his shoulder and fortunate enough to live in a society where he has the luxury to be able to act on his whim and still be able to survive - I'm almost sure he wouldn't be able to do this if he wasn't from the western middle class. At times his behaviour is almost like that of a cult leader. The other members of the group, I have compassion for as the group is some kind of escape from a life they don't really understand. Unfortunately, they are extremely mislead, as so often happens in real life.

The depiction of the middle class as intolerable of the handicapped is somewhat unfair (although not entirely) as these 'idiots' make every effort to be overbearing and make people feel uncomfortable only to then judge them for doing so despite their own 'genetic cleansing' attitude towards the truly handicapped. Under the pretense of being handicapped they basically run and around town doing whatever the f**k they want. I've worked with handicapped people before and I have never seen them act in this self indulgent behaviour. Furthermore, I imagine 95% of the viewers of this film will be middle class and find this film amusing for all the wrong reasons as it seems to be unfashionable to be middle class these days - much 'cooler' to act like an 'idoit' with the underlying justification of being misunderstood but naturally not denying yourself of any of the privileges your background offers you. Does anyone else see the hypocrisy in this? This form of 'rebellion' is only possible within the middle and upper classes. For the remainder of the middle class who aren't so intent on proving a point I feel that the group are trying to make them feel ashamed for their 'intolerance' and assumptions towards society.

This could have been a great film if there was some actual character development and insight but there simply is none. None the less, despite being a little uncomfortable in places, this film really made me think and more importantly, feel and for that it is mostly certainly worth a watch. The fact that there are many long reviews with polar opinions reinforces this.

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