The Five Obstructions

Denmark, Switzerland, 2003

Documentary, Avant-Garde

87
Danish
English, Spanish

Synopsis

An investigative journey into the phenomenon of filmmaking in which filmmaker Jørgen Leth remakes, not once but five times, his own 1967 short film The Perfect Human, each time within a series of guidelines and limitations imposed upon him by director Lars von Trier.

Our take

Lars von Trier, will you ever stop provoking people? Here’s a movie about his provocations: the Nymphomaniac director challenges a hero of his and great Danish director to remake his own movie under the maniacal guidelines set down by von Trier. Can he do it? Or with both filmmakers go insane?

The Five Obstructions Directed by Jørgen Leth, Lars von Trier

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Awards & Festivals

Venice Film Festival

2003

Sundance Film Festival

2004

Toronto International Film Festival

2003

CPH-DOX

2003

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Cast & Crew

Critics reviews

Film Critic:...

The movie itself is simple yet novel – and paradoxically involving for what is, essentially, an exercise in conceptual art.

Adrian Martin

April 01, 2014

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This divertissement is probably more fun if you haven’t seen many experimental films — if, for instance, you haven’t already seen a film cut as rapidly as 12 frames per shot. And if you’re titillated by the idea of feasting in front of hungry nonwhite people. In short, it’s amusing only if you agree not to think very much about it.

Jonathan Rosenbaum

September 10, 2004

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In the film’s final sequence and ultimate obstruction, the opposite roles the two melancholy Danes have played throughout… collapse into one as von Trier attempts a last gambit to skewer Leth’s cautious nature and ends up exposing his own vulnerability instead. “Look how he falls. This is how he falls,” the narration from The Perfect Humanintones, but just who is falling, has fallen, is the riddle with which this suddenly sad, inexplicably moving film leaves us.

James Quandt

March 01, 2004

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What are people saying?

Omnimog's rating of the film The Five Obstructions
Omnimog

Mindblowing! I honestly did not know much about this before watching, and my expectations were a blank. But this is brilliant on so many levels. Technical superb, delicious editing, and intriguing as a human portrayal of two brilliant minds. I am in awe. Just one of the finest works of art that I have seen.
January 24, 2019 17:22
- 3
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Chase's rating of the film The Five Obstructions
Chase

Great to see Leth and von Trier at work, also weird to see von Trier and how he treats Leth pre-"Antichrist" breakdown. The second obstruction was my favorite, while the last really caught me off guard.
July 06, 2011 05:30
- 1
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call_me_Al's rating of the film The Five Obstructions
call_me_Al

I thought it was fantastic. It is a visual representation of what it means to be an Auteur. A test of a true artist. I'm actually unfamiliar with the films of both directors, but I plan on correcting this mistake soon. A very fun and intriguing movie.
November 21, 2009 01:27
- 1
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Matthew Martens's rating of the film The Five Obstructions
Matthew Martens

Von Trier hopes -- not unlike Tom in Dogville -- to illustrate one of his pet theories about the relationship between art and humanity, to prove that crippling the former, in some sense, is necessary in order to bring it closer to the latter. And possibly vice versa. Leth is credited as the director here; von Trier is the "obstructor." This is the compelling record of their strange experiment in creative destruction.
January 24, 2019 17:39
- 4
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HEDONIST's rating of the film The Five Obstructions
HEDONIST

It was a privilege to be able to watch two great filmic minds bounce ideas off each other in this manner. I was very impressed with Jørgen Leth and the way he carries himself. Von Trier is a wonderful character in himself, such brilliance; yet, such indulgence -- I love it. I am now intrigued to watch the full version of The Perfect Human, seems to be quite a groundbreaking film for the time period.
January 05, 2013 22:04
- 1
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Stefan Drees's rating of the film The Five Obstructions
Stefan Drees

In my opinion a fascinating movie about preconditions and obstacles as stimulus for the creative process.
March 10, 2014 23:53
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HenriqueA's rating of the film The Five Obstructions
HenriqueA

What a delightful movie. Even when they're clearly faking it, it is funny and compelling. On top of it, the five shorts are really fucking great, specially the Brussells one!
June 03, 2010 04:43
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Phil Worfel's rating of the film The Five Obstructions
Phil Worfel

All kinds of fun. Its nice to see that Von Trier is as sadistic with his mentors as he is with his audience.
May 04, 2009 07:46
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