Rescuing the Last Grains of Truth: On Metacinematic Elements in The Idiots

Abstract

Metacinematic techniques employed in films that abandon the hegemonic model prompt viewers to reflect on their role in the film and raise questions about the cinematic medium, reality and the relationship established between the two. This article offers an analysis of the self-reflexive and metacinematic devices used in The Idiots (Dogme #2. Idioterne, Lars von Trier, 1998) that help shed light on the position of the film with respect to these questions. To this end, I will focus first on an analysis of the story, examining the shifts that take place between three permeable ontological levels presented in the film. I will then explore the discourse of the film based on the dialogue it establishes with the principles of the Vow of Chastity of the Dogme 95 movement, to which The Idiots belongs. I will consider how the film’s metacinematic reflection on story and discourse, albeit in different ways, ultimately point in the same direction. Finally, to conclude the article, in addition to identifying evidence of the convergence of the purposes of form and content in the film, I will attempt, on the basis of the argument developed, to answer the questions posed by the film about the role of the audience and the relationship established between cinema and reality.