The Idiots is something like a holy grail among Lars von Trier’s corpus, long out-of-print and legendary (even among his provocations) for its comic treatment of social disruption. It’s also the only feature von Trier made per Dogme 95 rules (you probably know at least a handful off the top of your head but just in case) and thus the one most aided by a 4K restoration––coming this month courtesy MUBI, who are doing the Lord’s (or Devil’s) work with a major rollout of his work.
Ahead of a June 16 debut at Metrograph and MUBI stream on July 7, a new preview shows off the Dogme judder and grain with effervescence, the enterprise boosted by emphatic quotes from Joachim Trier and Sean Baker. Suddenly the years spent waiting to fill this blind spot seem justified.
Preview and poster are below:
Celebrating it’s 25th anniversary, next month MUBI is proud to present a brand new, 4K restoration of THE IDIOTS. Lars von Trier’s only feature made under the Dogme 95 “Vows of Chastity”, THE IDIOTS centers on a Danish commune whose members aim to disrupt bourgeois society by spontaneously feigning physical or mental disabilities in public — including a new recruit (Bodil Jørgensen) motivated by a secret sorrow.
Previously censored upon release, this darkly comic and ultimately devastating film is now presented restored and uncut, as a highly provocative work which contemplates the very value of provocation.
