User Reviews

Modern art house director Lars von Trier spends a few months torturing his idol, the experimental documentarian Jørgen Leth, in a variety of cruel and unusual ways. As the taskmaster of a twisted private game, von Trier compels Leth to painstakingly recreate his surrealist 1967 short, The Perfect Human, on five different occasions with a gauntlet of handicaps and restrictions. One shoot might require that he employ no more than twelve frames between cuts the next might insist he travel across the globe, and Leth is happily game for it all. Ultimately, the goal is to strip the film down to the core and unravel its mysteries - many of which were seemingly lost to the director himself - and it does successfully dip a few toes into those waters. But as Leth gets more footage under his belt, the obstructions become more passive, quizzical and vague. By the time we arrive at the delivery of his final film, the light, enjoyable concept has become too heady and analytical for its own good, and neither man smiles with the kind of vigor they showed at the outset.

The Five Obstructions is an impressive artistic exploration between mentor and pupil. A play between the two that opens a huge door into how Von Trier worked and why he has received so much criticism for it. Even though the film is 20 years old, I had never seen it and I think it's the greatest display of his insecurities and it's impressive to see how he allowed them to be exposed. A film for a very limited audience but rewarding all the same.