The Dogme film movement was established by a group of Dutch filmmakers in 1995, in part, as a response to the “failure” of the French New Wave movement of the ’60s.  The group’s vows (including the use of only hand-held cameras, no pre-recorded sound and no artificial lighting) were said to promise a return to the roots of film, and create a much more honest art form.  Pretentious as it might be, the movement’s first effort, 1997’s The Celebration is an amazing piece of work that affects nearly everyone that takes it in.

    The Idiots and Mifune are the second and third official films made by the Dogme collective released stateside (though Harmony Korine’s Julien Donkey-Boy, released earlier this year, is a Dogme-approved film) and they show, respectively, how the movement has its pros and cons.  While The Idiots is as inventive and challenging as filmmaking these days gets, Mifune proves that even by following the guidelines of a movement like this, it still takes talent to come up with something interesting.

    The Idiots concerns a group of middle-class Copenhagen citizens on a quest to find the “inner idiot” by pretending to be mentally retarded.  Their newest member, Karen, joins the group when a pair of the “spassers” drag her into a cab after making a scene at a restaurant. The film then follows the groups’ exploits until their eventual collapse, as their sociological experiment intrudes on the lives of strangers and finally their close friends and family.

    A subject that might easily come off as offensive at face value is given great substance by Von Trier.  He’s created what is probably the first black-as-coal screwball satire; when the group attempts to dissuade a potential buyer of their hideout, you can just as easily laugh at their antics as smirk at their subversion of middle-class sympathies.  The buyer, along with many side characters throughout the film, represents the common trait of being comfortable with the idea of the mentally handicapped, but only when they aren’t around.  The Idiots isn’t for all tastes, sure, but then, what is?

    The Dogme style adds to the home-movie aspect of The Idiots, no doubt forcing Von Trier to come up with clever plot devices and a brilliantly stunning ending that will have even the most jaded audience shivering.  However, it doesn’t really do much for Mifune, a film that shows that no matter what the rules are, you can still make a bland, cliché picture.

    Mifune is a basic romantic comedy. Kresten, a newly-wedded young man, returns to the small town where he grew up to care for his mentally retarded brother after their father dies.  Meanwhile, Liva, a hooker-with-a-heart-of-gold® tries to leave her past behind and ends up working for Kresten as a housekeeper.  Anyone who can’t figure out what happens next is clearly new to the concept of “film” and should immediately take a class of some sort.

    While the acting is fine and the film is pleasant enough, Mifune never really manages to be more than a by-the-numbers piece of fluff.  The tone heats up a bit when Liva’s little brother shows up to cause trouble, but by the end, it’s back to the standard fare tossed out by the average Meg Ryan vehicle.  There’s nothing wrong with that, of course, but in the case of a Dogme film, it’s a bit disappointing.  Not a single new idea is brought forth, and the memory of the film may vanish completely within an hour and a half after viewing.

    Within three films, the Dogme doctrine has produced two genuine pieces of brilliance and one serviceable but generally pointless exercise is filmmaking.  Future projects have a lot to live up to in The Idiots and The Celebration, and it seems likely that this movement will pop out a lot more curiosities than real masterpieces before it tapers off completely.

    (Reviewer’s Note: The version of The Idiots reviewed was the uncut, unrated version available only on DVD.  The videocassette contains the R-rated cut, complete with black bars covering genitalia.  While we applaud USA Video’s attempts to shield us from the horrors of seeing a penis, thereby preventing nationwide anarchy, the digital blocking is distracting and should be taken into consideration when choosing which version of The Idiots to see.)