The Boss Of It All
Directed by Lars Von Trier.
Starring Jens Albinus, Peter Gantzler, Iben Hjeljle, Mia Lyhne, Sofie Grabol, Casper Christensen. 99 mins
This latest jolly jape from Danish provocateur Von Trier is a relatively straightforward piece, a comedy about the overlap of acting and business techniques.
When he set it up years previously, the boss of a Danish IT firm, Ravn (Gantzler) decided to create a fictional, never seen, company boss to hide behind when he wanted to introduce unpopular changes. Now though he wants to sell out to some aggressive Icelandic entrepreneurs and they want to meet with The Boss of It All, so he drags in an earnest thespian Kristoffer (Albinus) to play the part. Predictably though he begins to get too deeply involved in his new role.
It’s a good premise and the preciousness of actors is always a subject worthy of a jibe or two, particularly for a director with a reputation for giving them a hard time. The result isn’t wildly funny but it bobs along pleasantly enough. This is Von Trier first Danish language film since Idioterne a decade ago and you suspect that a lot of the humour is lost, either because of cultural differences or untranslatable word plays. Stick with it though because it does have a legitimately hilarious finale up its sleeve.
Of course Von Trier can never just make a film, there has to some kind of gimmick for him to hang it on. Following on from the Dogme 95 vow of chastity and filming in an empty studio with the outlines of buildings and rooms marked out on the floor (Dogville, Manderlay) this time the gimmick is filming using something called Automavision.
Automavision is a system that, once the cinematographer has set the position of the camera, allows a computer random control over a limited range of technical choices regarding focus, tilt, sound recording etc. Or something. I’ve read the explanation a number of times now and still don’t really grasp it.
It has little noticeable effect other than the occasional slightly jumpy framing of the characters and uneven sound quality (which is no great concern to subtitle readers.) Other than giving it the feel of slightly inferior office training film I suspect the only real influence is to make viewers who are aware of it constantly look for signs of it in the film. This is all rather distracting; forget I even mentioned it.
Knowing Von Trier I suspect there is no such thing as Automavision. That would be very Lars; a man who prowls the divide between Bergman and Beadle.
Directed by Lars Von Trier.
Starring Jens Albinus, Peter Gantzler, Iben Hjeljle, Mia Lyhne, Sofie Grabol, Casper Christensen. 99 mins
This latest jolly jape from Danish provocateur Von Trier is a relatively straightforward piece, a comedy about the overlap of acting and business techniques.
When he set it up years previously, the boss of a Danish IT firm, Ravn (Gantzler) decided to create a fictional, never seen, company boss to hide behind when he wanted to introduce unpopular changes. Now though he wants to sell out to some aggressive Icelandic entrepreneurs and they want to meet with The Boss of It All, so he drags in an earnest thespian Kristoffer (Albinus) to play the part. Predictably though he begins to get too deeply involved in his new role.
It’s a good premise and the preciousness of actors is always a subject worthy of a jibe or two, particularly for a director with a reputation for giving them a hard time. The result isn’t wildly funny but it bobs along pleasantly enough. This is Von Trier first Danish language film since Idioterne a decade ago and you suspect that a lot of the humour is lost, either because of cultural differences or untranslatable word plays. Stick with it though because it does have a legitimately hilarious finale up its sleeve.
Of course Von Trier can never just make a film, there has to some kind of gimmick for him to hang it on. Following on from the Dogme 95 vow of chastity and filming in an empty studio with the outlines of buildings and rooms marked out on the floor (Dogville, Manderlay) this time the gimmick is filming using something called Automavision.
Automavision is a system that, once the cinematographer has set the position of the camera, allows a computer random control over a limited range of technical choices regarding focus, tilt, sound recording etc. Or something. I’ve read the explanation a number of times now and still don’t really grasp it.
It has little noticeable effect other than the occasional slightly jumpy framing of the characters and uneven sound quality (which is no great concern to subtitle readers.) Other than giving it the feel of slightly inferior office training film I suspect the only real influence is to make viewers who are aware of it constantly look for signs of it in the film. This is all rather distracting; forget I even mentioned it.
Knowing Von Trier I suspect there is no such thing as Automavision. That would be very Lars; a man who prowls the divide between Bergman and Beadle.
