In 1967, Danish director Jørgen Leth made a short black and white film called The Perfect Human (Der Perfekte Menneske),
which declares someone (played by Claus Nissen) to be the perfect man,
and then presents him engaged in a range of simple activities -
dancing, shaving, dressing, dining, undressing, interacting with the
perfect woman (Majken Algren) - in an attempt illustrate the
notion of human perfection. With a laid back, simple narration by Leth,
the film is thought provoking and quite unexpectedly touching.
Simply leaving you with the line "I experienced something new today,
something I hope to understand in a few days". The brilliance of The 5 Obstructions is simple. Great admirer and former student of Leth, maverick director Lars von Trier (Dogville), challenges Leth to create five remakes of The Perfect Human
while adhering to a series of rules which von Trier has
mischievously concocted (each Obstruction created using Leth's self
confessed weaknesses as a film-maker). The result is an amazing mix of
documentary, art, psychology and creativity. The first
obstruction is somewhat technically challenging. Amongst the
restrictions, the first remake had to be shot in Cuba and no shot could
be longer than 12 frames. The second is an emotional
obstruction in which Leth must recreate the extravagant meal segment of
the original film in "one of the most miserable places on earth". And,
to top that, Leth had to be the actor as well. An amazing task which
takes Leth completely out his comfort zone into the red light district
of Bombay. It's an amazing and harrowing thing to witness Leth's
awkwardness and fear of the people there. A homeless prostitute comes
to the window of his car and asks for money. A man, whose film is about
the perfection of humanity made him famous, is visibly and uncomfortably
intimidated by real humanity - not the artistic humanity upon which he
thrives. The Third obstruction is "There are no obstructions",
giving Leth complete freedom. The result is brilliant with a
recreation of the movie in Brussels, and using efficient split-screen
editing again stuns Von Trier (and the audience). The fourth film
Leth is to make, Von Trier demands that the film be remade as a
cartoon. This puts Leth in a tough situation (both filmmakers have
express their dislike of the animation genre immensely) but again he
rises to the challenge. He collaborates with an animator and using
footage from the previous remakes and the original film, he converts
the film into paint technique - a style reminiscent of Richard
Linklater's Waking Life. The fourth film is amazing, and comes close to surpassing the original from a purely visual standpoint. Finally,
the film reaches the fifth obstruction and von Trier's grand scheme
becomes more apparent. The fifth obstruction is that he himself will
direct the film and provide Leth with a script for which he must
provide a voice-over. Furthermore, Leth must be credited as the
director. This is an amazing film. No doubt. Sometimes it is only
through being constrained that an artist can truly be free.
Jørgen Leth's perfection as a director is revealed and
reaffirmed by Lars von Trier's five often cruel attempts to introduce
flaws to his work, in a film which is thought-provoking, humane and
warmly funny. It is a testament to the creativity of the human mind,
even the perfect human mind. Obviously not the kind of movie that will appeal to those who feel Police Academy 6: City Under Siege
had significant artistic merit, but for those who enjoy documentaries
or who like the craft of film at it's most poignant - this is a must see. For film
students, this is a must study. While you may not immediately love The 5 Obstructions, it is "something you will hope to understand in a few days". DVD Extras There
isn't much in the way of extras here. However, Leth's original 1967
film is included in full. I personally recommend you watch it prior to
the feature, if only to familiarise yourself with the topic, and help
you appreciate the genius of Leth's ability to remake The Perfect Human so differently every time. Conclusion:
Movie 90% Extras: 70% 
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