A lot has been made of Von Trier’s recent confession that he derives “no pleasure from filmmaking.” Considering his usual style and subject, one is forced to wonder: If his pleasureless-but-content self is represented by the warped and instinctively bleak works of the last ten years—Dancer in the Dark, Dogville, Manderlay—what does the mind of a depressed Von Trier look like? Moreover, how does one balance that image of the complex, phobic Dane with The Boss of It All, a lighthearted office comedy?
Von Trier, embracing an amusingly deconstructive form, narrates his film as it progresses; beginning as a reflection in office windows, his eye pressed to the camera, he becomes a cinematic John Barth. When a scene requires something cliched, such as the introduction of a new character to advance the story’s progression, he lets us know. It’s refreshing and, at the same time, essential to a film about how years of compound storytelling leads to disaster and, eventually, redemption.
by Adam Balz | Source: 35MM Theatrical Print
07 Oct 2007 12:10 AM | Submit Comment
