Cinema surveillance images are loading at the bottom of the page

The five obstructions (De fem benspænd) - Claus Nissen, Majken Algren Nielsen, Jørgen Leth, Lars von Trier

Threat advisory: Under evaluation

Movie propaganda

In 1967, Jørgen Leth made a 12-minute short film called The perfect human, a document on human behaviour containing the familiar Leth themes - a film that von Trier admires greatly and claims to have seen more than 20 times. In the year 2000, Lars von Trier challenged Jørgen Leth to make five remakes of this film, but each time von Trier put forward obstructions, constraining Leth to re-think the story and the characters of the original film. Playing the naive anthropologist, Leth attempts to embrace the cunning challenges set forth by the devious and sneaky von Trier.

Theatrical propaganda posters

Target demographic movie keyword propaganda

Film documentary Denmark Danish remake Lars von Trier challenge Jørgen Leth

Persons of interest

Claus Nissen .... The perfect man (Det perfekte menneske - 1967)
Majken Algren Nielsen .... The perfect woman (Det perfekte menneske - 1967)
Jørgen Leth .... Speaker (Det perfekte menneske - 1967); Himself; Screenwriter: Det perfekte menneske; The perfect human: Bombay; The perfect human: Brussels; The perfect human: Cartoon; The perfect human: Cuba; Director: segment The perfect human: Avedøre, Denmark; The perfect human: Bombay; The perfect human: Brussels; The perfect human: Cartoon; The perfect human: Cuba
Daniel Hernandez Rodriguez .... The perfect man (Obstruction #1 - The perfect human: Cuba)
Jacqueline Arenal .... The perfect woman (Obstruction #1 - The perfect human: Cuba)
Alexandra Vandernoot .... The perfect woman (Obstruction #3 - The perfect human: Brussels)
Patrick Bauchau .... The perfect man/Speaker (Obstruction #3 - The perfect human: Brussels), Speaker (Obstruction #4 - The perfect human: Cartoon)
Lars von Trier .... Himself - Obstructor (The Conversations)
Marie Dejaer .... Maid (Obstruction #3 - The perfect human: Brussels)
Pascal Perez .... Man (Obstruction #3 - The perfect human: Brussels)
Meschell Perez .... Woman (Obstruction #3 - The perfect human: Brussels)
Sophie Destin .... Poet: La femme
Lars von Trier .... Creator
Asger Leth .... Screenwriter: The perfect human: Brussels
Lars von Trier .... Screenwriter: The perfect human: Avedøre, Denmark; Director: The perfect human: Avedøre, Denmark; Obstruction #5 - The perfect human: Avedøre, Denmark

Cinematic intelligence sources

The five obstructions (De fem benspænd) official movie site
The five obstructions (De fem benspænd) film production notes (.rtf)
The five obstructions (De fem benspænd) QuickTime movie trailers
Awards and film festivals:

CPH:DOX 2003: Nominated: (Lars von Trier, Jørgen Leth)
European Film Awards 2003: Nominated: Best Documentary Award (Jørgen Leth, Lars von Trier)
Motovun Film Festival 2004: Won: FIPRESCI Prize (Jørgen Leth, Lars von Trier)

NB: Danish, English, French, Spanish languages with English language subtitles; Black and White, Colour
Studios and distributors: