Les Idiots

Film sur le fait de sortir des rails bien établis et de trouver une liberté mentale absolue et le bonheur. Et aussi un film sur un retour très difficile et impossible pour une personne plus faible. Malgré tous les aspects positifs que je ressens pour Idioterne, je le couperais et le raccourcirais. Le sujet est excellent, mais il ne convient pas à une durée de deux heures. Une durée de 80 minutes lui irait mieux, correspondant au caractère semi-expérimental du film. (11/08/2002)

For me, definitely the weakest representative of the "Golden Heart Trilogy" and overall one of Trier's weaker films, but still can't say it's a weak or mediocre film overall:) The beginning is actually quite comedic in places (if you're willing to accept it, of course), but it wouldn't be Lars von Trier if he didn't incorporate a few more chilling and stirring moments into his film and let his characters take a nice "bath", so although The Idiots looks like a "mere" gritty comedy at first, in the end (and especially in the end) it's pure Trier drama. Still, the fates and tribulations of the main characters didn't stick with me nearly as much as with Lars’ other films. Of course, I'm not denying the originality of this work (the film's theme, where a bunch of various middle-aged misfits play at being mentally handicapped and go "nuts" because they're actually just bored – that's an "incredible" idea), but compared to everything else my beloved Lars von Trier has made so far, it's still "only" slightly above average. That fourth star is teetering on the edge. (07/04/2011)

It’s smart, it’s bold, it’s fine. That said, I’m glad that in his later films Trier has formally settled down a little. Dogma 95 is an interesting manifest, but those films aren’t all that nice to watch, especially when they are two hours long. (29/07/2011)

The man looks like an idiot, he acts like an idiot, but make no mistake, he really is an idiot... don't you understand that old Marx Brothers joke? Trier explains it vividly in his typically naked, terroristic and caustic panopticon of the disturbed products of modern society. (13/10/2011)

Another von Trier shocker. A bunch of intellectuals play at being mentally handicapped and annoy the people around them. There several scenes that are for strong stomachs only, and the sex orgy is so bold that it can easily be described as pornography. In short, Lars von Trier shocks again with gusto, but this time very skillfully and I quite like it in this case. (27/08/2002)