Idioterne (The Idiots)

Lars Von Trier's famous 1998 work, celebrated as the crucial, and one of the founding, sources in the 'Dogme 95' movement.
This film is a very well told narrative. That is, Von Trier simply knows how to cut at a good speed. He is smart at knowing when to begin and ened cuts and shots, or rather we mean smart in the sense that scenes taken on their own don't drag.
Due to the techincal aspects this film is shot in a, in fact, rather boring way. It is the wider shots when inside, then the mid shots on the outside, mixed in with close-ups for the emotional scenes. The deliberate limitations of the 'dispositif' of Dogme doesn't really change much at all (apart from production costs, which is an admirable goal). We have the same thoughts on the montage, the shot length and framing, as elsewhere.
The problem with this film is really that it is far too long. It is an idea that can simply only last an hour, and this film does really drag. This does not mean that there are not scenes at the end just as good as those at the start. Everything is done well, but parts of the general arc are simply not enough to sustain a 109 mintue narrative.
The ideas behind this film are really rather interesting. As a study of disability it deliberately shocks, it is also very self-relexive in so far as looking at the camera. Why are we doing this, why are we looking at them at all? The idea of hosting a revolution, and the failures of that, seem to be a comment on the Dogme style itself.
An interesting movie, but one that really needs one more idea to add to its already good ones.