Lars Von Trier is a polarizing director who makes polarizing films. It seems critics and audiences either love or hate Mr. Von Trier as a director and either love or hate the films he directs. Known for his quirky, phobia-induced behavior, his name brings pretensions to any film he releases. His career has gone through several phases. He debuted with his hypnotic, technically proficient Europa trilogy (The Element of Crime, Epidemic and Zentropa) which were filmed with tight pre-planned shots and obscure lighting schemas. Then he produced the Lynchian-inspired hospital drama The Kingdom (remade later by NBC with Steven King taking dubious amounts of credit). While filming the The Kingdom he took the camera off the cranes and jib-arms, utilizing a strictly hand-held format with final result looking quite verite. Inspired by this experience he went on to find controversial dogma95 movement and dropped a trilogy of films (The Idiots, Breaking the Waves and Dancer in the Dark) which were shot under harsh technical restrictions. Delving even more into cinematic minimalism his USA- The Land of Opportunities was largely visualized on a single soundstage, sans sets and shot in the same vain as his other dogma films.
His third installation of the USA trilogy has yet to be completed, which makes the arrival of The Boss Of It All, a peculiar entry into his canon. The Boss of it All is comedic, melancholy and non-pretentious which makes it a very accessible film. Not something Von Trier is known for. The film is satirically reminiscent of The Kingdom, my personal favorite by Von Trier, in that it takes an institution (in this case the growing tech enterprise) and exposes it’s hypocrisy.
The film follows Raven (Peter Gantzler), a lawyer in an IT firm who has always told fellow employees that the boss of the company is always away on business when, in fact, he is the owner of the firm. Thus, he hires an out-of-work, over-intellectualizing actor (Jens Albinus) to play the boss when he decides to sell the firm and cheat its top employees out of their rightful cuts. Unfortunately for Raven, the actor delves deep in the role and unfortunately for the actor, the Raven has told each of the top employee’s differing personal information about their absent boss. The film deals with identity, power and the three-ring circus that is the workplace environment.
The film was shot on location in an office, complete with props and sets. But Lars Von Trier would never shoot anything conventionally, in this case the film was shot by a computer known as Automavision. The computer was purportedly locked on a shot and then could decide whether or not to pan or tilt. The end result looks choppy yet aesthetically appropriate. The odd angles and jump-cuts only add to the charm of the film. When watching this one can also see a progression of Von Trier’s aesthetic growth from meticulously planned shots in the Europa trilogy, to his anti-framing Golden Hearts/USA trilogy to a new form of framing that isn’t really framing.
At the end of the day I would recommend the Boss of it All to just about anyone. It’s a smart comedy that easily communicates across borders and generations. It’s a little lengthy to be sure and the jokes go on for a little too long as well. It will be interesting got see how history will remember Von Trier’s career. On the one hand he seems excessive, on the other he seems minimalist. But for someone who loves shooting techniques, emotionally charged stories and has a wicked sense of humor, no one can say that he hasn’t made a significant impact on global cinema. It’s whether or not Mr. Von Trier is full of self-aggrandizement or self-loathing that remains to be seen.
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