Film > World Cinema - Contemporary

Von Trier's "Dogme" classic sees an obnoxious group of yuppie misfits form an organisation dedicated to breaking societal taboos by releasing their 'inner idiot' and shocking public through constant "spazzing". Von Trier utilises his convention-breaking Dogme 95 filmmaking technique - a highly improvised script, natural light, and documentary-style, hand-held video footage - to capture this bizarre subculture as they indulge in extensive comical nudity, poor table manners and a notorious orgy scene. The second in Von Trier's "Golden Hearts" trilogy (with Breaking the Waves and Dancer in the Dark), The Idiots is seen through the eyes of 'golden heart' Karen (Bodil Jorgensen), a sad, tentative and psychologically wounded newcomer to the group whose spazzing becomes an extreme and hurtful form of self-degradation.