The Idiots, along with Thomas Vinterberg’s Festen, was the first release of the Dogme 95 movement, a no-frills, back-to-basics drive to revitalise contemporary cinema. Shot in in the style of a documentary, as per Dogme 95 rules, this daring and innovative film focuses on a commune-like cohort who indulge in various forms of transgressive, socially unacceptable behaviour in and around a house on the outskirts of Copenhagen. Karen (Bodil Jørgenson), a newcomer, is initially angered by their antics, but soon joins in the bizarre and unsettling roleplay.

Notes by David O’Mahony

Screening as part of Lars von Trier: Enduring Provocations. Multi-film pass available.