The Five Obstructions (Fem Benspaend, De) (2003)

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General		Extras
Category	Documentary	Menu Animation & Audio Short Film-The Perfect Human Theatrical Trailer Trailer-2046, Taste Of Cherry, Night On Earth, Play Time, Exils Trailer-Howl's Moving Castle Audio Commentary-Jørgen Leth (Director)
Rating
Year Of Production	2003
Running Time	87:20
RSDL / Flipper	RSDL (55:39)	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Jørgen Leth Lars von Trier
Studio Distributor	Zentropa Ent. Madman Entertainment	Starring	Claus Nissen Majken Algren Nielsen Jørgen Leth Lars von Trier Daniel Hernandez Rodriguez Jacqueline Arenal Vivian Rosa Alexandra Vandernoot Patrick Bauchau Marie Dejaer Pascal Perez Meschell Perez Bent Christensen
Case	Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip
RPI	$29.95	Music	Henning Christiansen

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	Danish Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s) English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.75:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.85:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	Yes
Subtitles	English	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    For Lars Von Trier, filmmaking is something of a game: you can't help but feel that with each film one of his major priorities is to completely screw around with the audience's mind and expectations. Viewers are either irritated at being manipulated and respond with heavy indignation (recall the general American response to Dogville) or learn to enjoy the game and simply go with the flow, as sadistic as that direction may be. Personally, I'm a strong supporter of the second camp and have enjoyed every Von Trier film I've seen (although I am not sure that "enjoy" is the right word).

    If Von Trier's top priority is to manipulate his audience, his secondary aim is to put both his characters and actors through the most mentally distressing situations he can invent. Nowhere is this tendency more clear than in the documentary The Five Obstructions in which Von Trier puts his favourite director, Jørgen Leth, through a series of increasingly stressful obstacles, this time without the protective buffers of fiction and acting.

    In 1967, documentary-maker Leth produced a short film, The Perfect Human, an ironic take on anthropological studies in which we watch the perfect human eat, sleep, shave, and make love. The film itself is perfect in every way, but comes in for criticism by Von Trier: "Why investigate the perfect human? Isn't imperfection - true humanity - far more interesting?"

    In his usual semi-malicious style, Lars Von Trier proposes a challenge to Leth: remake The Perfect Human five times according to obstructions - designed by Von Trier specifically to increase the chance of failure - and allow the whole process to be filmed. For instance, the first obstruction challenges Leth to remake the film with no shot longer than 12 frames, no set, and to shoot on location in Cuba. Each challenge is more difficult than the last (Leth struggles most when he is given no rules at all) and Von Trier tries his absolute best to punish Leth for each success.

    And succeed he does. Leth's creativity seems to flourish under Von Trier's heavy discipline, and each new version is as intriguing and thought-provoking as the original. And despite the pressure, Leth appears to be thoroughly enjoying himself (and so of course does Von Trier). The documentary unfolds as both therapy and a game between friends: if you keep in mind that all the posturing and apparent profundities are just part of the rules, then The Five Obstruction becomes a highly enjoyable film experience. It has a message and a moral regarding human imperfection, but it's more than likely that these elements too are part of the joke - a joke more than worth the price of admission.

    I would recommend viewing The Perfect Human prior to The Five Obstructions: it is available as an extra feature.

Video

    The Five Obstructions has been well transferred in video terms, taking into account the varying quality of the original elements. Segments from the original film, The Perfect Human, are in good condition. The digital footage of Leth working on his films and talking to Von Trier is also good but falls down in a few areas. The footage from the new films by Leth is excellent. The film is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.75:1, 16x9 enhanced, relatively close to the original film's presentation of 1.85:1. I believe The Perfect Human was shot at 1.66:1 and its framing is a little crowded within The Five Obstructions.

    Sharpness and detail are a little soft in The Perfect Human and good in the documentary segments. The new films are razor sharp and beautifully detailed. The original film shows some grain - the documentary segments show a lot of grain, especially in darker scenes while Leth talks to the camera. There is very little, if any, grain or noise in the new films.

    The Perfect Human was shot in black and white against a clean white background. Contrast appears to have been deliberately reduced for effect. Documentary colours are very natural and the reshot films use vivid, well saturated colours.

    There are no MPEG artefacts to speak of (perhaps a very little pixelization). The only issue of note is the appearance of edge enhancement in the original short film and the new versions. Edge enhancement is particularly distracting in the second obstruction.

    Subtitles are in Madman's usual yellow font except over Perfect Human segments, in which they are white. Stick with the white please, Madman! The translations appear thorough, although my Danish is very limited. The layer change occurs in a scene transition at 55:39.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    Two audio tracks are provided: Danish Dolby Digital 2.0 (with some English) and an English Dolby Digital 2.0 commentary track. I listened to both: the main feature's audio is very nice.

    Dialogue is excellent, but some hiss and crackle is evident in some of the documentary footage and in the original film: otherwise the audio is crystal clear. Audio sync is accurate at all times. Audio is monaural during Perfect Human and the documentary, but switches to surround during the new films. Directional effects are absent (and unnecessary really), but the score and ambient effects (the street sounds of Bombay, for example) fill out the surround stage very nicely. The subwoofer offers some support to the score of the new films but keeps itself quiet for the most part.

    The beautiful clarinet piece from The Perfect Human by Henning Christiansen is heard frequently and completely new scores are produced for several of the new films. All are very well suited to each obstruction.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Menu Animation & Audio

Short Film

    The Perfect Human (12:44) - Leth's original is included letterboxed 4x3 with monaural sound. The image shows some damage, a little grain and the audio has some hiss, crackle, and some distortion in the treble. Subtitles are forced and are white inside a dark strip (similar to closed captioning). The film itself is fantastic.

Theatrical Trailer

    16x9 enhanced, Dolby Digital 2.0 (surround).

Trailer

    Several Madman trailers and everyone's favourite Piracy Ad.

Audio Commentary

    Leth's commentary offers some interesting insights. Unfortunately, the audio of the film behind the commentary is louder compared to the main track and tends to compete with Leth. There are many silences and it's difficult to focus on his voice with the loud audio behind him.

    Apart from NTSC/PAL and trailer differences, the Region 1 and Region 4 releases are identical.

    The Five Obstructions is a game on film and maybe a public therapy session - but it's also an excellent documentary on the creative process and readily recommended. Even if you're not a fan of Lars Von Trier's films, Leth's amiable presence and contributions make this a very accessible piece.

    Audio and video are transferred very well, although quality varies between the different elements used.

    Extras are few in quantity, but the inclusion of the original The Perfect Human is most welcome.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall