The Boss of It All

The Boss of It All
Danish theatrical release poster
Directed by	Lars von Trier
Written by	Lars von Trier
Produced by	Meta Louise Foldager Vibeke Windeløv Signe Jensen
Starring	Jens Albinus Peter Gantzler Friðrik Þór Friðriksson
Cinematography	Automavision[1] Claus Rosenløv Jensen[2] Henrik Lyngbo[3]
Edited by	Molly Malene Stensgaard
Music by	Mikkel Maltha[4]
Production companies	Canal+ Det Danske Filminstitut Film i Väst Sveriges Television Zentropa Productions Zik Zak Kvikmyndir
Distributed by	Nordisk Film Biografdistribution
Release dates	21 September 2006 (2006-09-21) (CIFF) 8 December 2006 (2006-12-08)
Running time	99 minutes[5]
Countries	Denmark France Germany Iceland Italy Sweden
Languages	Danish English Icelandic Russian
Budget	€3 million[6] ($4 million)
Box office	$3,111,395[7]

The Boss of It All (Danish: Direktøren for det hele) is a 2006 experimental comedy film written and directed by Lars von Trier.^[8] The film uses a cinematic technique invented by von Trier himself called Automavision, which automatically determines framing by randomly tilting, panning or zooming the camera without being actively operated by the cinematographer.

Plot

The owner of an IT company, Ravn, wishes to sell it. But, for years, he has pretended that the real boss lives in America and communicates with the staff only by e-mail. That way, all the unpopular decisions can be attributed to the absentee manager, while all the popular ones to him directly. But now, the prospective buyer insists on meeting the big boss in person. In a panic, the owner hires a failed, over-intellectualizing actor to portray this imaginary boss, and the actor proceeds to improvise all his lines, to the consternation of both the buyer and the company staff, who finally get to meet their ghostly boss.

Cast

• Jens Albinus as The Boss of It All / Kristoffer / Svend E
• Peter Gantzler as Ravn, the owner
• Friðrik Þór Friðriksson as Finnur
• Benedikt Erlingsson as Interpreter
• Iben Hjejle as Lise
• Henrik Prip as Nalle
• Mia Lyhne as Heidi A.
• Casper Christensen as Gorm
• Louise Mieritz as Mette
• Jean-Marc Barr as Spencer
• Sofie Gråbøl as Kisser
• Anders Hove as Jokumsen
• Lars von Trier as Narrator

Release

The Boss of It All opened in Denmark on 8 December 2006 and earned 1,147,632 kr. The film opened in the United States on 23 May 2007 and earned $51,548. Worldwide, the film grossed $3,111,395.^[7]

Critical reception

The film received generally positive reviews. It holds a 75% rating on the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes based on 67 reviews. The website's consensus reads, "Director Lars von Trier ditches the pretensions but keeps his misanthropy in The Boss of it All, a surprisingly sharp and witty comedy about office life gone haywire."^[9] On Metacritic, the film has a 71/100 rating based on 17 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".^[10]

Accolades

The film was nominated for two Bodil Awards, three Robert Festival Honours and the Golden Shell at the San Sebastián International Film Festival.

Remake

On February 23, 2011, it was announced that Arrested Development creator Mitch Hurwitz was remaking The Boss of It All for Universal Pictures with Brian Grazer producing.^[11]

References

1. "The Boss of It All — Danish Film Database". Danish Film Database.
2. "Claus Rosenløv Jensen — Danish Film Database". Danish Film Database.
3. "Henrik Lyngbo — Danish Film Database". Danish Film Database.
4. "Mikkel Maltha — Danish Film Database". Danish Film Database.
5. "THE BOSS OF IT ALL (15)". British Board of Film Classification. 20 November 2007. Retrieved 10 January 2015.
6. "The Boss of It All (2006) - Box office / business". Internet Movie Database. Amazon.com. Retrieved 10 January 2015.
7. "Boss of It All (2007)". Box Office Mojo. Internet Movie Database. 20 July 2007. Retrieved 10 January 2015.
8. Hjort, Mette; Jorholt, Eva; Redvall, Eva Novrup (2010). The Danish Directors 2: Dialogues on the New Danish Fiction Cinema. Intellect Books. p. 295. ISBN 978-1-84150-271-7. Retrieved 14 October 2010.
9. "The Boss of It All". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. Retrieved 28 November 2022.
10. "The Boss of It All". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 10 January 2015.
11. "'Arrested' creator remaking von Trier film". Digital Spy. 23 February 2011. Retrieved 21 January 2015.

External links

• The Boss of It All at IMDb
• The Boss of It All at Box Office Mojo
• The Boss of It All at Rotten Tomatoes
• The Boss of It All at Metacritic
• The Boss of It All in the Danish Film Database
• The Director Interviews: Lars von Trier, The Boss of It All at Filmmaker Magazine
• 'I'm a control freak – but I was not in control' – interview with von Trier
• Slave to cinema – interview with von Trier