Five Obstructions on DVD

Two directors playing cinematic ping-pong

Rory Aitken from Totnes, England , 19/03/2005

A fabulous insight into the workings of the minds of two top directors, Leth and Von Trier play a game of cat and mouse over a remake of Leth's original 'The Perfect Human Being' a black and white short film from the late 60's that influenced a generation of later Scandinavian film-makers. Of course, one can't remake anything, and of course, nothing is ever really original anyway, so to make thing interesting Von Trier trhows curve balls at Leth in his attempts at remaking the original gem (also on the DVD). Five short films later, you can draw your own conclusions. I absolutely LOVED it as a whole (two of the five shorts were just gems!)

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The Labyrinth

A customer from Airstrip One — Capital City , 17/05/2005

A rewarding and thought provoking psychological game of cat and mouse — a twisted therapy session run amok. Amazingly for what is really just a straight linear documentary-style narrative, the film reveals a whole series of tangential thought-provoking dialogs and interactions. We don't know who is following who, and for whom this novel therapeutic process is really for — both obstacle-maker (von Trier) and obstacle-jumper (Leth) show a rich seam of human imperfection and need along the way. Fascinating.

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Deconstructing Obstructions

M0NIKA from Manchester , 10/10/2004

Using an experimental film made in the sixties as it's starting point, 'Five Obstructions' takes us on a filmmaking masterclass lead by Lars von Trier himself.

Responsible for a number of controversial and groundbreaking films, he puts Jorgen Leth through a 'cathartic' process using the camera and film as a tool instead of the psychiatrist's couch. A unique chance for us, the film fan, to get a brief look at a creative exchange between two startlingly original filmmakers engineered in a most endearing way.

Revealing and personal filmmaking, removing the gloss and ultimate charade of the film industry, turning it into a constructive dialogue between friends.

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A near-perfect collaboration

steve69 from Herts. , 18/11/2004

Lars von Trier is fascinated with rule-based filmmaking. From his back-to basics work as one of the Dogma group of Danish directors to the empty sound stage of Dogville, Trier has consistently utilized preordained constraints. In The Five Obstructions, von Trier sets the rules within which Jorgen Leth remakes his short (14-minute) film The Perfect Human (1967).

The DVD contains the original version of Leth's The Perfect Human. I would recommend watching this before The Five Obstructions. Extracts of this austere black-and-white meditation appear throughout Jorgen and von Trier's film, along with segments of their conversations and shots of Leth overcoming the obstructions.

Leth is clearly one of von Trier's heroes. This collaborative film shows why. One remake of The Perfect Human has the action switched to a Bombay street, while another occurs in an upmarket Brussels hotel. However, the obstructions presenting the biggest challenges to Leth produce the best remakes; namely the Cuban version, in which no shot can last more than 12 frames, and the cartoon interpretation. This intriguing film confirms that constraints can often be an aid to creativity.

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A near-perfect collaboration

steve69 from Herts. , 18/11/2004

Lars von Trier is fascinated with rule-based filmmaking. From his back-to basics work as one of the Dogma group of Danish directors to the empty sound stage of Dogville, Trier has consistently utilized preordained constraints. In The Five Obstructions, von Trier sets the rules within which Jorgen Leth remakes his short (14-minute) film The Perfect Human (1967).

The DVD contains the original version of Leth's The Perfect Human. I would recommend watching this before The Five Obstructions. Extracts of this austere black-and-white meditation appear throughout Jorgen and von Trier's film, along with segments of their conversations and shots of Leth overcoming the obstructions.

Leth is clearly one of von Trier's heroes. This collaborative film shows why. One remake of The Perfect Human has the action switched to a Bombay street, while another occurs in an upmarket Brussels hotel. However, the obstructions presenting the biggest challenges to Leth produce the best remakes; namely the Cuban version, in which no shot can last more than 12 frames, and the cartoon interpretation. This intriguing film confirms that constraints can often be an aid to creativity.

Read all highest rated reviews

Deconstructing Obstructions

M0NIKA from Manchester , 10/10/2004

Using an experimental film made in the sixties as it's starting point, 'Five Obstructions' takes us on a filmmaking masterclass lead by Lars von Trier himself.

Responsible for a number of controversial and groundbreaking films, he puts Jorgen Leth through a 'cathartic' process using the camera and film as a tool instead of the psychiatrist's couch. A unique chance for us, the film fan, to get a brief look at a creative exchange between two startlingly original filmmakers engineered in a most endearing way.

Revealing and personal filmmaking, removing the gloss and ultimate charade of the film industry, turning it into a constructive dialogue between friends.

Read all highest rated reviews