The Idiots

The Idiots
Danish release poster
Directed byLars von Trier (uncredited; under Dogme rules)
Written byLars von Trier
Produced byVibeke Windeløv
Starring
CinematographyLars von Trier
Edited byMolly Malene Stensgaard
Production
companies
Distributed byOctober Films
Release dates
  • 20 May 1998 (1998-05-20) (Cannes)
  • 17 July 1998 (1998-07-17) (Denmark)
  • 27 August 1998 (1998-08-27) (Netherlands)
  • 4 September 1998 (1998-09-04) (Sweden)
  • 8 January 1999 (1999-01-08) (Spain)
Running time
114 minutes[1]
Countries
  • Denmark
  • France
  • Italy
  • Netherlands
  • Spain
  • Sweden
LanguageDanish
BudgetUSD$2.5 million
Box office$7,235[2]

The Idiots (Danish: Idioterne) is a 1998 Danish black comedy drama film written and directed by Lars von Trier. It is his first film made in compliance with the Dogme 95 Manifesto,[3] and is also known as Dogme #2. It is the second film in von Trier's Golden Heart Trilogy, preceded by Breaking the Waves (1996) and succeeded by Dancer in the Dark (2000). It is among the first films to be shot entirely with digital cameras.

It was screened at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for the Palme d’Or, despite being met with widespread criticism upon release.[4]

  1. ^ "The Idiots (18)". British Board of Film Classification. 15 February 1999.
  2. ^ "The Idiots". The Numbers. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
  3. ^ "A joke or the most brilliant film-maker in Europe?". The Guardian. 21 January 1999. Retrieved 19 May 2023.
  4. ^ "Dogme 95 — Rules, Manifesto and Films of a Radical Experiment". StudioBinder. 5 April 2020. Retrieved 14 November 2022.