The Idiots Zentropa

Von Trier's The Idiots (1998), his only official Dogme 95 film, uses handheld cameras to follow a commune of young people pretending to be mentally disabled. An earlier feature, Zentropa (1991) features an alluring and allusive visual style the director later disavowed.

The Idiots is recommended for mature audiences. Von Trier's The Idiots, the director's only "official" Dogme 95 film, is primal, explicit, and strikingly original. It follows a commune of young people who practice "spassing" (pretending to be mentally or physically handicapped). Besides the transgressive subject matter, the film also features explicit sex scenes that were censored for its U.S. release. It was made according to the strict rules of the Dogme 95 manifesto, which calls for films shot on-site with handheld cameras and without ornamental music, lighting, or effects. Recommended for mature audiences. (1998; 115 mins.)

In Zentropa, Jean-Marc Barr encounters Nazi sympathizers called "werewolves" while traveling into the heart of postwar Germany. The dazzling visual inventiveness of Zentropa (prompted Leonard Maltin to call it "a rare contemporary movie that makes one feel privy to the reinvention of cinema." With Eddie Constantine and Max von Sydow. (1991; 112 mins.)