The Humiliated (2000)

Synopsis: While shooting Lars von Trier's controversial comedy THE IDIOTS, cinematographer Jesper Jargil kept the digital video camera running and turned it on von Trier himself. The result is THE HUMILIATED, a painfully honest portrait of an... While shooting Lars von Trier's controversial comedy THE IDIOTS, cinematographer Jesper Jargil kept the digital video camera running and turned it on von Trier himself. The result is THE HUMILIATED, a painfully honest portrait of an artist who suffers from mood swings, depression, and intense feelings of loneliness. The first film shot within the constraints of the groundbreaking Dogme 95 manifesto, THE IDIOTS follows a group of frustrated individuals who share a house together and torment society by acting mentally and physically disabled in public. While shooting the film, von Trier has moments of lighthearted pleasure (shooting one day without wearing any pants), but it is the troubling times that make THE HUMILIATED such a revealing experience. Jargil uses an audio diary that von Trier himself kept throughout production to provide even greater insight into von Trier's childlike emotions, although the confusion and depression wear themselves nakedly on his face throughout the film. Eventually, von Trier pulls himself out of his depression, allowing him to finish the film and, in fact, feel pleased with the results. Working as an almost mandatory companion piece to THE IDIOTS, THE HUMILIATED also stands alone as an unforgettable glimpse into the mind of a tortured artist. This film was screened in April 2001 as part of a retrospective called Breaking the Rules: The Cinema of Lars Von Trier at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York City. [More]

Starring: Lars von Trier, Bodil Jorgensen, Jens Albinus, Anne Louise Hassing

Starring: Lars von Trier, Bodil Jorgensen, Jens Albinus, Anne Louise Hassing, Paprika Steen

Director: Jesper Jargil

Director: Jesper Jargil
Producer: Vinca Wiedemann

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