Thursday, 17 June 2004
The Five Obstructions
Aside from what I'd read in a review (somewhere, no longer sure where), I went into The Five Obstructions knowing - and expecting - very little. I'd never seen its source/subject, The Perfect Human. Sure, I knew Lars von Trier's work (and his reputation), but nothing about his hero/subject, Jørgen Leth.
In fact, arriving late, I even missed a good amount of the introduction. So much for a "pure" exposure to the film or a complete viewing in its integrality.
Breaking down and revisiting one's prior work can be difficult, if not downright painful. And von Trier makes things about as painful as he can for poor Leth - albeit in an obviously playful way. Still, von Trier can't help but let show his glee when setting the stage for Leth's initial task - or his mock disappointment when Leth finds creative ways to sidestep technical and even emotional constraints.
Five films, five sets of rules - all with one goal: remake Leth's famous (to others, apparently, not to me) film, "The Perfect Human." Both directors visibly evolve during the film, in role if not in appearance. Hardly surprising, considering the five tasks span the months covering 2000 to 2002.
I found myself relating to that same time scale, thinking back to my own life over that same period: my move to Paris, through starting my own company. In fact, one of the main reasons I went to this film was the one challenge that - according to the review - threw Leth for a loop.
The hardest challenge of all? Total freedom: do anything you want. And sure enough, Leth - having grown used to his protégé/torturer's Draconian ways - was a bit rattled when given carte blanche. But I wouldn't say that he was "thrown for a loop." Nor was I, when left to my own devices. After a short period, I picked up and moved on - as, inevitably, most of us do.
On a totally unrelated note, I couldn't stop myself from comparing how each actor shaved in each of the films. It's such a banal exercise, but served as an interesting reference point - a way of comparing the different permutations by using this one moment as a metric. I think my fascination with it is a sure sign of how much of a geek I am.
I obviously missed a crucial point by arriving late: the whole series of challenges were supposedly devised by von Trier to pull Leth out of some reclusive funk that had him sulking in Haiti. But by the end, I could feel the camaraderie, as well as Leth's appreciation - fittingly, expressed in a letter written to von Trier by von Trier himself.
4 / 5 : von Trier's arrows fly true: "no direction" doesn't equate with freedom, nor is "making lemonade from lemons" life's purpose