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The Idiots

1998 · 110 min

A confrontational, uncomfortable provocation that blurs satire and sincerity, leaving you unsettled and thoughtful.

Directed by
Lars von Trier
Genres
Comedy, Drama
Tagline
Take a long ride on the short bus.
Overview
A group of perfectly intelligent young people decide to react to society's cult of aimless, non-creative and non-responsible form intellect by living together in a community of 'idiots'. Their primary activity becomes going out into the world of 'normal' people and pretending to be mentally incompetent. They take advantage of this situation to create anarchy, and, by every possible means, to make those around them miserable.

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Directed by
Lars von Trier
Genres
Comedy, Drama
In your watch list

How it feels

Written by AI. It can be wrong.

Tone
  • darkstrength 3 of 3
  • satiricalstrength 3 of 3
  • absurdstrength 2 of 3
  • cynicalstrength 2 of 3
Pacing
measured, 2 of 4, from slow-burn to relentless
Attention
demanding, 4 of 4, from background-friendly to demanding
Themes
  • identity
  • isolation
  • grief
  • rebellion
  • morality
Places
  • big city
  • single country house
Era
contemporary
Audience
adult
Form
  • found footage
  • ensemble
Content intensity
  • Gore none
  • Language strong
  • Violence mild
  • Sex strong
All scales, 0 to 10
Scales, 0 to 10
ScaleValue0 to 10
Action2
Horror2
Humour6
Realism7
Romance3
Tension6
Darkness8
Complexity8
Emotional weight8

In this series

Golden Heart trilogy

  1. Breaking the WavesMovie · 1996
  2. The IdiotsMovie · 1998 This title
  3. Dancer in the DarkMovie · 2000

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Cast

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Details

Genres
comedy, drama
Directed by
Lars von Trier
Written by
Lars von Trier
Starring
Bodil Jørgensen, Jens Albinus, Anne Louise Hassing, Troels Lyby, Nikolaj Lie Kaas, Louise Mieritz, Henrik Prip, Luis Mesonero
Cinematography
Lars von Trier
Runtime
110 min
Country
Denmark, France, Germany, Netherlands, Italy, Sweden
Languages
Danish

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