After watching various European films from the 60s, The Five Obstructions was a refreshing take on European cinema. The Five Obstructions is a film about making film. Although it is considered a relatively modern documentary, it still goes back to a film from the past. Lars Von Trier, the actual director of the documentary, challenged Jorgen Leth, the director of the film The Perfect Human, to remake his own film multiple times given certain obstructions.

The original The Perfect Human was shown at the beginning of the documentary and I had mixed thoughts about it. The film was quite peculiar, showing multiple clips of people doing random things such as eating, lying down on the bed, and even jumping. The film did not make sense to me at first. However, after pondering about it as the documentary progressed, I realized that Leth was trying to show that the “perfect human” is basically all people. The film was simply trying to show people in their natural habitat. There can never be just one true perfect human as all of us are all human with our own respective characteristics.

All the obstructions Trier gave to Leth were given with the intention to make life hard for Leth. Trier’s obstructions for his fellow director tested Leth’s prowess for film making. Obstruction after obstruction, Leth always delivered a film, however, it was not always to Trier’s liking. Although all the films Leth made were arguably also great films, there was an instance wherein he was not able to fully understand one of Trier’s obstructions. While watching the film, Leth’s artistry amazed me. The original The Perfect Human was somewhat dull but that certainly changed for the new films he made. It is astonishing to see how a director could come up with different ways of making the film, yet all still share the same message. Whether the film was done as a cartoon or in one of the worst slums of Bombay, Leth was effectively able to show Trier that he could overcome all challenges directly targeting his character. Moreover, the film also showed that despite having a great overall film, it is impossible to please everyone. Every film is really up to the audience’s judgement.

In the end, Trier made the last film with the 5th obstruction of not letting Leth do anything aside from making him be the voice of the narrative. Honestly, I am not sure whether documentary itself is supposed to be part of the 5th obstruction film or whether it could be considered as the “6th obstruction.” Nevertheless, the entire documentary was a great way for Trier to show respect for Leth and his work. It was evident that The Perfect Human was not forgotten over time. The documentary shows Leth’s competence and commitment during the supposedly unseen processes of film making. It shows the possible challenges these people face on a regular day. It leads the audience to appreciate the minds behind the industry, showing what dedication is being put for our entertainment.

Imagine a trailblazing filmmaker, named Jorgen Leth back in the 1960’s, now retired and settling for a peaceful, unobtrusive life in Haiti during present time. Then suddenly, a young menacing art film director named Lars Von Trier, decides to ruin his daily routine, challenging him to recreate his superb 12-minute black and white film “The Perfect Human” that he created way, way back with the whimsical rules and limitations of Von Trier’s own concoction.

And why is this so? Maybe Von Tier wanted to see if the rusty gears in Leth’s brilliant mind was still working, despite years of unpractice. Was his mentor still able to generate flabbergasting experimental films of dogma, perfection and splendor? Would all Leth’s future works still seem to be perfect?

Maybe he just wanted to see what Leth could still add up to the plate of art cinema.

And maybe it was not perfection he was looking for because he was already used to that.

Maybe Von Tier was looking for something more profound from Leth—something more natural.

Maybe something more human.

It is enthralling to witness camaraderie between two filmmakers, one master, one student, switching roles from one moment to another, bickering over the need to set creative boundaries when creating a film.

In this film, one sees how a filmmaker works around the random conditions of the weather, the location, and the cultural situation of where, when and what they are shooting. The Five Obstructions is said to be a perverse game of one-upmanship given the various situations where both would display their mastery on their crafts.

Moreover, Von Tier projects the film with a raw and clean wisp of documentary style shooting with natural lighting, sounds and shakey camera movement, showing the reality of filmmaking which is disheveled, convoluted and frustrating.

[1] A 12 frame film, [2] a film shot in the worst place on Earth without showing its misery, [3] a free-style film contradictory to Leth’s filmmaking style, and [4] an animated film which really challenged Leth— Lars Von Trier frets that his master, Leth, is attempting to make the films too good. He grouses repeatedly, desiring to see the evolution of Leth from being too perfect to being human. Von Tier expressed how everything was structured to its ultimate refinement and there was no room for flaws in Leth’s craft.

This film raises awareness about Jorgen Leth’s legacy that is not as widely recognized like the other European films that has been well-respected all through out the years. Moreover, the 5th obstruction seems to be a film created by Von Tier himself, showcasing the entire journey of Leth, remaking his piece again and again with utmost craftsmanship. The showcase of Leth’s talent in a film recreated five times over shows how an artist evolves together with his art as time progresses. And given this documentation of raw and messy and exasperating filmmaking, comes the reality of what makes a filmmaker perfectly a filmmaker and what makes a human perfectly human.

-161997-

The film “The Five Obstructions” by Danish director Lars von Trier, was definitely one of the most challenging movie that I had to analyse. To start off, I was a little confused as to why scenes from being a documentary would change to a man eating inside a box-like figure is being shot by the camera for a long period of time without even having a proper conversation. Next issue that I had was the fact that this movie was created based from Jorgen Leth’s “The Perfect Human” in 1967.

I will be honest, I really did have a hard time following the movie that is why I hardly have anything to say about the film. However, this curiosity of mine bothered me because I really wanted to understand the film as much as I can. With the help of the internet and some analysis of the film available, I just learned that the film was sort-of a documentary that included certain challenges or “obstructions” that Tier and Leth created. As the movie progresses, we find out the Leth has been leading over Trier but then he makes one more challenge which forces Leth to recreate his own “The Perfect Human” film. This “fifth obstruction” gives a clue that there is still a continuation after this documentary.

Compared to the other European film that I was able to watch, this film was indeed harder to understand even though it was created more recently than the other films. A reason as to why I found this film difficult was may be because this film was in documentary form. Unlike the other films which focused on visuals and cinematography, this film by Trier brought out a more sophisticated and yet a clever way of telling a story.

When our professor said that the next film we would watching was a film from 2003, I felt relieved because I thought that maybe this one wouldn’t feel so foreign and different as compared to the other films we watched which I found very odd and ~old~. I wanted to understand and at the same time enjoy a European film on our list for once, and I was hoping this one would be it.

The Five Obstructions by Lars von Trier is a documentary that involves two filmmakers challenging each other on their expertise on art and cinema. Protégé Lars von Trier summons his mentor Jorgen Leth to recreate one of Leth’s most popular films, The Perfect Human. His challenge came with a twist: Leth has to recreate his own film five times, with five different obstructions for every remake that gets more and more amusing.

To be honest, it took me some time to understand what was going on in the film. I was initially confused why there were two men arguing about something about 12 frames and why this younger man seemed to be bossing around this older guy. When I finally understood what was going on, things started to make more sense and things got a bit more interesting. Though it didn’t take awhile until I felt confused and lost again; I couldn’t seem to figure out why von Trier was giving those kinds of ‘obstructions’ and what its purpose was. It felt so random to me. He loved the original film, didn’t he? He’s the student in their relationship, right? But towards the end of the film, I realized that it wasn’t really about making fun of Leth nor was it in any way disrespecting him. Leth was a lot older than von Trier, and based on my research, he’s a good and experienced filmmaker. So maybe this wasn’t von Trier being bossy and arrogant; maybe it was his attempt at challenging Leth’s filmmaking style and creativity, and helping him develop his technique in this new generation of arts and filmmaking. We see this initially in the film when von Trier gave his first obstruction, and Leth reacting negatively because he thought it would be impossible to shoot in just 12 frames. Yet he ended up doing it flawlessly, just as he did in the original. In a way, it can be said that von Trier was helping Leth push himself outside of his comfort zone and evolve as an artist. More than it being a good message for change and progress, I think it’s also an empowering message for mentee-mentor relationships in general, as it teaches students to constructively criticize, give valuable input, and even challenge their mentors.

In a more general, relatable, and non-film-related perspective, I think The Five Obstructions is a good reminder that humans are, contrary to the film title, imperfect. From the snippets of The Perfect Human that we saw from the documentary, it just shows how the “perfect human” (or at least the idea of it) is only in a box, which is perhaps our imagination or our concept of this kind of human. But what von Trier tries to show us through his obstructions is that humans exist outside this perfect box with a constantly changing environment and factors that makes genuine human life and interaction unpredictable, unautomated, and perhaps perfectly imperfect.

L’Avventura takes us on a ride of love affairs, complicated characters, and breathtaking scenery. The story revolves around three main characters, namely Anna, Sandro and Claudia. Each of them bring a different perspective of what is happening to the table, and it intrigues the audience to find out what their purpose and hidden motives are. On the surface, L’Avventura can seem very extensive and dragging for some, but that is because Antonioni challenges the viewers to look deeper into what the characters’ do and say, and more importantly, what they don’t.

In the first act of the film, we are introduced to Anna, the daughter of an Italian diplomat. We don’t really learn much about her at the start aside from the fact that she is quite dramatic and hostile towards her lover that she hasn’t seen for a while, Sandro. While he tries to figure her out and when they eventually make love, her close friend Claudia is seen framed in the middle of the curtains, peeking just enough into their room. This gives us a little foreshadowing into what eventually happens to the trio.

Not long after, they go on a boat trip in order to visit a remote island. More characters are introduced, and their interactions follow. Anna even fakes seeing a shark in the ocean, and only telling Claudia this in the dressing room. Nobody can figure out what is on Anna’s mind, not even Sandro. He even asks her, “Why should we be here talking, arguing? Believe me Anna, words are becoming less and less necessary; they create misunderstandings.” Soon after their quarrel on the island, Anna disappears. The next acts of the film focus on how the other characters coped with her loss, starting off with shock, then confusion, sadness, and ultimately acceptance.

In an unexpected turn of events, Sandro passionately kisses Claudia, while she pulls herself back and questions why he did that. Viewers are just made to speculate if these two characters are simply supporting ones, or if there is something more to them. Throughout the rest of the story, it revolves around Claudia trying to wrestle with her feelings towards Sandro and her feelings towards her missing friend. Ultimately, and strangely, the two start to act as lovers and grow closer towards each other while investigating Anna’s death.

If the audience didn’t think that was enough, however, Sandro takes another turn once again. When he asks her to marry him, Claudia replied, “How should I answer? No.” It seems as though they might have progressed in their relationship with each other, Claudia still cannot override the guilt and pain she faces from missing her friend. But nothing will beat the final scene of L’Avventura, where Claudia sees Sandro cheating on her with Gloria, a very beautiful writer and aspiring “actress”, but later on goes to him weeping on a bench and watches the horizon while comforting him.

Indeed, there is no doubt that L’Avventura was made to confuse, shock, and even annoy its audience. The characters may be seen as uptight, apathetic and spoiled with lust and glamor. The story brought us many twists and turns, and made us hate characters we might have loved at first. But perhaps what this film was trying to tell us is that people, even those that seem to have it all—looks, riches, power—nothing will really fill in the emptiness that they hold within.