The Five Obstructions
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| The Five Obstructions | |
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| Directed by | Lars Von Trier Jørgen Leth |
| Produced by | Peter Aalbæk Vibeke Windeløv |
| Written by | Lars Von Trier Jørgen Leth |
| Starring | Lars Von Trier Jørgen Leth Claus Nissen |
| Distributed by | Zentropa Real ApS and Koch-Lorber Films |
| Release date(s) |  11 September 2003 (premiere at TIFF) 7 November 2003 21 November 2003 26 May 2004 (NYC only) |
| Running time | 103 minutes |
| Language | Danish, English, French, Spanish |
| Budget | Unknown |
| IMDb profile | |
The Five Obstructions (Danish: De Fem benspænd) is a 2003 film by Lars Von Trier and Jørgen Leth. The film is a documentary, but incorporates lengthy sections of experimental films produced by the filmmakers. The premise is that Lars Von Trier has created a challenge for his friend and mentor, Jørgen Leth, another filmmaker. Von Trier's favourite film is Leth's The Perfect Human (1967). Von Trier gives Leth the task of remaking The Perfect Human five times, each time with a different 'obstruction' (or obstacle) given by Von Trier.
[edit] The obstructions
1. Leth must remake the film in Cuba with no shot longer than 12 frames; Leth successfully completes this task.
2. Leth must remake the film in the worst place in the world but not show that place onscreen. Leth remakes the film in the red light district of Bombay, only partially hiding it behind a translucent screen.
3. Because Leth failed to complete task 2 perfectly, Von Trier punishes him by making him remake the film in any way he chooses. Leth remakes it in Brussells using split-screen effects.
4. Leth must remake the film as an animation. He does so with the aid of Bob Sabiston, a specialist in rotoscoping, who creates animated versions of shots from the previous films.
5. The fifth obstruction is that Von Trier has already made the fifth version, but it must be credited as Leth's, and Leth must read a voiceover narration ostensibly from his own perspective but in fact written by Von Trier.
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