100
Christian Science Monitor by David Sterritt
This movie equivalent of Robert Rauschenberg's artwork "Erased de Kooning" is funny, ornery, and ultimately inspiring.
The Five Obstructions (De fem benspænd)
Critic Rating
(read reviews)User Rating
- Denmark,
- Switzerland,
- Belgium,
- France
- 2003
- · 90m
Director
Jørgen Leth
Cast
Claus Nissen,
Lars Von Trier,
Majken Algren Nielsen,
Jacqueline Arenal,
Daniel Hernandez Rodriguez
Genre
Documentary
In 1967, experimental filmmaker Jorgen Leth created a striking short film, "The Perfect Human". Years later, Danish director Lars von Trier made a deal with Leth to remake the film five times, each under a different set of circumstances and with von Trier's strictly prescribed rules. As Leth completes each challenge, von Trier creates ever more elaborate rules for the contest.
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What are critics saying?
100
Entertainment Weekly by Owen Gleiberman
As he rises to each challenge, you realize that von Trier, the most exalted of prankish sadists, has orchestrated the filmmaking equivalent of the story of Job. The Five Obstructions glories in art, life, and the faith that binds them.
100
Los Angeles Times by Kenneth Turan
A complete original. This ingenious, almost indescribable film won't remind you of anything else because there's nothing else like it.
90
Time by Richard Corliss
The next time you hear a director complain about the studio or his stars or the weather or whatever, think of what Jorgen Leth achieved with Lars von Trier as his boss -- when five obstructions became five splendid opportunities.
89
Austin Chronicle by Marc Savlov
Riveting, and frankly it's great fun to see Leth best the smirky von Trier five times running.
88
New York Daily News
A sensational oddity. It sheds light on the creative process, on filmmaking and on the durability of friendship and professional respect despite the odds.
88
Rolling Stone by Peter Travers
Keep "Survivor" and "Fear Factor," and give me this spellbinding mind teaser, the ultimate game for movie buffs.
88
New York Daily News by Staff (Not Credited)
A sensational oddity. It sheds light on the creative process, on filmmaking and on the durability of friendship and professional respect despite the odds.
83
Portland Oregonian by Marc Mohan
It's a treat to be diverted by a film that actually has a brain.
80
TV Guide Magazine by Ken Fox
Even those who dismiss Von Trier as a talented sadist might reconsider after seeing this revealing and ultimately poignant documentary -- and the funny thing is, on the surface it's not even about him.
80
The New York Times by Dana Stevens
Watching The Five Obstructions is at once like witnessing two chess masters playing dominoes and like spying on a series of therapy sessions. Mr. von Trier clearly sees himself as a maniacal psychoanalyst.
80
Variety by David Stratton
Though billed as a documentary, The Five Obstructions doesn't easily fall into any category. Perhaps it's best described as a game, in which a pair of Danish film directors from different generations spar with one another in a highly civilized, and surprisingly entertaining, fashion.
70
Village Voice by J. Hoberman
An unclassifiable film-school exercise--one part documentary, one part psychodrama, and one part mock manifesto--The Five Obstructions mainly serves to illuminate the game-like nature of Lars von Trier's aesthetic project.
70
The A.V. Club by Noel Murray
The film is also valuable for raising awareness about Leth, whose work hasn't been as widely recognized as that of his European contemporaries, but who now makes an impressive case for his skills, five times over.
60
Film Threat
As Leth overcomes each obstacle set before him, the film becomes a work of extraordinary artistry, intellectual exhilaration, emotional uplift, and outright affection.
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