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November 17, 2002

More like Dogmeat 95.

I saw my first Dogme 95 film last night, Italian for Beginners. Dogme 95 is a group of directors who have made a series of promises known as the vow of chastity about the films they make.

I heard about Dogme 95 three or four years ago, but I never had any interest in watching their films. Their manifesto is extremely unappealing in the way that only German ideas can be. (I myself am slightly German, so I feel justified in condemning the whole nation.) (Slightly German: band name?) Their central problem with modern films seems to be that these films are rife with false elements (i.e. false lighting, sound work, scenes shot in times other than the present, etc.) and therefore can't be expected to impart a true idea or emotion to the audience. They solve this problem by requiring that their films be shot only in real locations, with natural light, and handheld cameras, and so on. Basically they're coming as close as possible to shooting real life without just going around filming ordinary people.

Because Frahm introduced me to this philosophy I expected the films to be pretentious, but Italian was amazingly accessible. It's a very good film. Unfortunately, I found that the handheld cameras and use of video distracted me from the script and acting which were the film's strengths. In fact the only thing I approve of about Dogme 95 is the lack of a soundtrack or score. I have always resented filmmakers who use sweeping violins or bass lines to manipulate my emotions when the acting or script isn't enough to convince me.

Wait, I do approve of one other thing.

Posted by didofoot at November 17, 2002 05:24 PM

Comments

i'm vaguely tempted to go find the entire online conversation my film class had about dogme95 and email it to you. but i just don't think i have the level of energy that would take. suffice it to say that once i had an interesting discussion about them. and that is all.

Posted by: michele at November 17, 2002 06:57 PM

i vote you find it, since my idea of carefully dissecting the whole thing rapidly fell apart as soon as I realized how little i cared. save this entry! link to a real one!

Posted by: didofoot at November 18, 2002 11:26 AM

i saw one of them films t'other nite too. Julien Donkey Boy. So strange. I recommend it.

Posted by: tracy at November 18, 2002 11:36 AM

well here's something. i'll give you three trys to figure out which comment is by me.:

Dogme 95
It rather reminded me of much to do about nothing.Why all the chest beating and emotional sack cloth and ashes. If you don't like the way something is done then pursue your own course, but why go off on some mental self gradification gig and create a butch of codes and vows. Get a life.
 

Dogme95
I've only seen one Dogme film- the Idiots, and wouldn't recommend it to anyone. When I first read the vow of chastity last week, I wasn't bothered by it much and thought it might inspire some good filmmaking. Having actually thought about it since then, I think it just seems like a publicity stunt for the guys who started it. Vow number 10 says the director must not be credited, but these guys credit themselves, and then point out that they wrote the vows in 25 minutes between fits of laughter. Wow! With such an awesome display of postmodern irony, the decadent burgeois auteurs which the Dogme95 avant-garde protect us from may as well surrender now, or suffer the devastating consequences of further ideological attack. Really though, I think the Dogme95 people just want to take credit for having started some kind of "movement" which had already started anyway. The Vow of Chastity and the certification you can buy from Lars and Thomas is to me nothing more than a pile of self-congratulatory dogma.
 

"buying" a certificate.
this was one of the things that stuck in my craw too. (yes, craw.) it was just amazing to me that a movement which is vowing to be as selfless as this, not crediting the director, making it for art not public consumption, not caring about the public opinion whatever, is going to make you PAY for a certificate PROCLAIMING you as a dogme95 artist so that you can what? lord it over non-dogme95 non-artists? become more conceited about it? the whole point of a certificate is to frame it and put it on the wall and that seems wholly at odds with their whole purpose in their manifesto. anyway, i have to say that i didn't really take their whole mission very seriously.

Posted by: michele at November 18, 2002 11:59 AM

number 3, number 3!

i know my craw-loving muppet.

Posted by: didofoot at November 18, 2002 01:40 PM

the craw totally gave it away huh? man i am so transparent. =P

Posted by: michele at November 18, 2002 02:23 PM

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