BOSS OF IT ALL, THE: DVD

SYNOPSIS:
Danish IT company owned by Ravn (Peter Gantzler) has always had a non-existent President - a figure to hide behind when unpopular steps had to be taken. When cranky Icelander, Finnur (Fridrik Thor Fridriksson) insists on negotiating with the boss of it all, Ravn hires out of work actor Kristoffer (Jens Albinus) to play President. Kristoffer is thrown in at the deep end, and this unusual role goes on to test his own moral fibre - or lack thereof.

Review by Andrew L. Urban:
Lars von Trier is not known for his comedies - because there haven't been any. Here he is confounding us again, this time by swinging his cinematic pendulum to the opposite end of Breaking the Waves, Dogville and the rest. But von Trier is an impish filmmaker and even as he presents a satirical funfest, he fills it with barbs. Some of these barbs are aimed at pretentious actors, others at directors, but it's all couched in an easy to take wackery set inside a small Danish IT company whose founder has been less than frank with his staff.

The screenplay is developed beyond the one-joke premise, and von Trier even finds a way of wrangling a sex scene, a marriage proposal and a couple of Iceland/Denmark confrontations with historical backstories into the proceedings without missing a step.

The conceit is fresh, and von Trier adds a further layer of fun by adding a sparse narration - as he himself the filmmaker, talking about the inner workings of his device. It sounds self centred, but it's actually a sweet device which lets him poke fun at his own plaything.

Shot in a simple but interesting visual style that adds a few frills without burdening the film, there is a terrific sense of determined realism to the performances from all the cast, and Jens Albinus is terrific in the challenging lead role. Clever writing and top notch acting combine to make this a highly amusing outing.

Also amusing are the mockumentary extras. I told you, he's a joker this Lars.

Published August 28, 2008