Director: Lars von Trier
Year Released: 2006
Rating: 1.0
Lars watches one too many episodes of the epic British TV show The Office, decides to strip it of its humor and make the whole thing an allegory: the Boss of It All is really von Trier himself, presiding over the ceremony of the cinema with God-like leverage (he introduces the movie while a crane scales a work complex) and all the little peons are his actors, who may attempt revolt but are still under his command. The staff 'quirks' appear lifted (in spirit) from the Gervais/Merchant production - the hysterical woman who flips when something makes a loud noise, the brutish man who describes the weather before he starts swinging, the horny blonde who drops her panties and demands penetration, etc. - and, to the movie's detriment, von Trier constantly calls attention to both himself and the very construction of the film (his automatic camera is supposed to be a gag, with 'angles selected by a computer,' as if to say that control over the visuals was out of von Trier's hands while shooting). As for the story itself, the characters seem to have been stripped of common sense or basic psychology, making them even more like figurines for him to push around. Nice try, Mr. von Wizard, but I see you behind the curtain.
