Dogme 95 (Danish for "Dogma 95") is a 1995 avant-garde filmmaking movement founded by the Danish directors Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg, who created the "Dogme 95 Manifesto" and the "Vows of Chastity" (Danish: kyskhedsløfter). These were rules to create films based on the traditional values of story, acting, and theme, and excluding the use of elaborate special effects or technology. It was supposedly created as an attempt to "take back power for the directors as artists", as opposed to the studio.[1] They were later joined by fellow Danish directors Kristian Levring and Søren Kragh-Jacobsen, forming the Dogme 95 Collective or the Dogme Brethren. Dogme (pronounced[ˈtʌwmə]) is the Danish word for dogma.
The movement took Von Trier's first film under Zentropa-production Breaking the Waves as the main inspiration by ethos although the film breaks many of the movement's "rules".[2]
Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg wrote and co-signed the manifesto and its companion "vows". Vinterberg said that they wrote the pieces in 45 minutes.[3] The manifesto initially mimics the wording of François Truffaut's 1954 essay "Une certaine tendance du cinéma français" in Cahiers du cinéma.
They announced the Dogme movement on March 13, 1995, in Paris, at Le cinéma vers son deuxième siècle conference. The cinema world had gathered to celebrate the first century of motion pictures and contemplate the uncertain future of commercial cinema. Called upon to speak about the future of film, Lars von Trier showered a bemused audience with red pamphlets announcing "Dogme 95".[citation needed]
In response to criticism, von Trier and Vinterberg have both stated that they just wanted to establish a new extreme: "In a business of extremely high budgets, we figured we should balance the dynamic as much as possible."[4]
In 1996, the movement took Breaking the Waves as the main inspiration by ethos, although the film breaks many of the movement's "rules", including built sets, post-dubbed music, violence, and computer graphics in the end of the film.[5][2]
Since 2002 and the 31st film, Spanish director Juan Pinzás no longer needs to have his work verified by the original board to identify it as a Dogme 95 work after finishing up his own trilogy. The founding "brothers" have begun working on new experimental projects and have been skeptical about the later common interpretation of the Manifesto as a brand or a genre. The movement broke up in 2005.[7]
Since the late 2000s, the emergence of video technology in DSLR photography cameras, such as the Canon EOS 550D, has resulted in a tremendous surge of both feature and short films shot with most, if not all, of the rules pertaining to the Dogme 95 manifesto.[citation needed] However, because of advancements in technology and quality, the aesthetic of these productions typically appears drastically different from that of the Dogme films shot on Tape or DVD-R Camcorders. Largely erasing the primitive and problematic features of past technologies, newer technologies have helped Dogme 95 filmmakers achieve an aesthetic of higher resolution, as well as of lower contrast, film grain, and saturation.[citation needed]
Goals and rules
The goal of the Dogme collective is to "purify" filmmaking by refusing expensive and spectacular special effects, post-production modifications and other technical gimmicks. The filmmakers concentrate on the story and the actors' performances. They claim this approach may better engage the audience, as they are not "alienated or distracted by overproduction". To this end, von Trier and Vinterberg produced ten rules to which any Dogme film must conform. These rules, referred to as the "Vow of Chastity", are as follows:[1]
Shooting must be done on location. Props and sets must not be brought in (if a particular prop is necessary for the story, a location must be chosen where this prop is to be found).
The camera must be hand-held. Any movement or immobility attainable in the hand is permitted.
The film must be in colour. Special lighting is not acceptable. (If there is too little light for exposure the scene must be cut or a single lamp be attached to the camera.)
Optical work and filters are forbidden.
The film must not contain superficial action. (Murders, weapons, etc. must not occur.)
Temporal and geographical alienation are forbidden. (That is to say that the film takes place here and now.)
″Furthermore I swear as a director to refrain from personal taste! I am no longer an artist. I swear to refrain from creating a “work”, as I regard the instant as more important than the whole. My supreme goal is to force the truth out of my characters and settings. I swear to do so by all the means available and at the cost of any good taste and any aesthetic considerations.
Thus I make my VOW OF CHASTITY.″[8]
Firsts
In total, thirty-five films made between 1998 and 2005 are considered to be part of the movement.
The first of the Dogme films (Dogme #1) was Vinterberg's 1998 film Festen (The Celebration), first produced in Denmark.
Since the first four films from Denmark were released, other international directors have made films based on Dogme principles. French-American actor and director Jean-Marc Barr, von Trier's frequent collaborator, was the first non-Dane to direct a Dogme film: Lovers (1999) (Dogme #5).[citation needed]
American director Harmony Korine's film Julien Donkey-Boy (Dogme #6) is also a first non-European and the first American film to be considered a Dogme.
South Korean's La Femis-graduate and academic Daniel H. Byun, who directs his film debut Interview (Dogme #7), being the first and only Asian film ever made under the Dogme movement.
Argentine filmmaker José Luis Marquès' mockumentary film Fuckland (Dogme #8), is the first Latin American and the first Argentina film to follow the Dogme 95 movement minimalist guidelines.
Trier attempted to make a Dogme trilogy, known as "Golden Heart" (consisting of Breaking the Waves (1996), The Idiots (1998; Dogme #2), and Dancer in the Dark (2000)), but only The Idiots is a certified Dogme 95 film while Breaking the Waves and Dancer in the Dark are sometimes associated or heavily laid out with the movement.[9] As a result, Pinzás was the only filmmaker to submit three films, making a trilogy called "Gay Galician Dogma", which comprises Once Upon Another Time (2000; Dogme #22), Wedding Days (2002; Dogme #30), and The Outcome (2005; Dogme #31)[10]
Attempts
While Interview (2000) does not explicitly mention that it is registered as Dogma #7, the number had originally referred to a scheduled German film titled Broken Cookies, directed by another one of von Trier's frequent collaborators, Udo Kier. The film was never produced, and Interview was registered instead.[11]
The end credits of Het Zuiden (South) (2004), directed by Martin Koolhoven, included thanks to "Dogme 95". Koolhoven originally planned to shoot it as a Dogme film, and it was co-produced by von Trier's Zentropa. Finally, the director decided he did not want to be so severely constrained as by Dogme principles.[citation needed]
Uses and abuses
The above rules have been both circumvented and broken from numerous films submitted as a Dogme, particularly a director's credit and background music appearing in Interview and Fuckland as for examples. Some films include;
For instance from the first Dogme film to be produced, Vinterberg "confessed" to having covered a window during the shooting of one scene in The Celebration (Festen). With this, he both brought a prop onto the set and used "special lighting".
Korine's Julien Donkey-Boy features two scenes with non-diegetic music, several shot with non-handheld, hidden cameras and a non-diegetic prop.
Byun's Interview also features that violated the rules including cramming in dolly shots, moody lighting, a director's credit, and Park's background music.[12]
Márques' Fuckland broke some of the Dogme 95 guidelines, including the use of non-diegetic music, digital video, and a directorial credit.
Concepts and influences
Breaking the Waves, von Trier's first film after founding the Dogme 95 movement, was heavily influenced by the Dogme 95 style and ethos, even though it breaks many of the "rules" (including a directorial credit, background sets, non-diegetic music, and use of CGI).[5]
The 2001 experimental film Hotel, directed by Mike Figgis, makes several mentions of the Dogme 95 style of filmmaking, and has been described as a "Dogme film-within-a-film".[13][14]
Dogme certificate for Bier's Elsker dig for evigt (Open Hearts, 2001), Dogme No. 28.
A complete list of the 35 films is available from the Dogme95 web site.[16] Juan Pinzás (#22, #30, and #31) is the only filmmaker to have submitted more than once.
Most of the Dogme films received mixed or negative reviews, though some were critically acclaimed such as Vinterberg's film Festen (The Celebration), Scherfig's film Italiensk for begyndere (Italian for Beginners), and Bier's film Elsker dig for evigt (Open Hearts).[citation needed] Films such as Von Trier's film Idioterne (The Idiots) and Jacobsen's film Mifunes sidste sang (Mifune's Last Song), also received lukewarm reviews.[citation needed]
Although the movement was dissolved in 2005, the filmmakers continued to develop independent and experimental films using or influenced the concept including Jan Dunn's Gypo and Brillante Mendoza's films Serbis, Tirador, and Ma' Rosa.[20]
Much of Von Trier's works were influenced by the manifesto. His first film after founding the movement was Breaking the Waves, which was heavily influenced by the movement's style and ethos, although the film broke many of the "rules" laid out by the movement's manifesto, including built sets, and usage of non-diegetic musics and computer graphics. Most of his films that followed these principles can be traced from the 1998 film Idioterne until Riget: Exodus.[21][22]
Vinterberg's 2012 film, Jagten, was also influenced by the manifesto.[22]
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