An unruly farce set in an office, Lars von Trier's latest provocation skewers ethics, capitalism and his own filming methods (camera and sound are operated randomly by a computer).
Screened as part of NZIFF 2007
The Boss of It All 2006
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Lars von Trier promises that his latest film won’t cause us “more than a moment’s reflection”. This, like much else in this unruly farce set in an office, is far from true, for ethics, capitalism, and even von Trier’s methods themselves are skewered in this ‘harmless’ comedy. Kristoffer, a dismal actor, has been hired by Ravn to play Svend E., the supposed director of the IT company Ravn actually owns. The absent boss was Ravn’s creation to ward off any unpleasant interaction with his staff. But he’s about to sell up on the sly and the delightfully belligerent Icelandic buyer will only deal with Svend E. in person. Kristoffer, obsessed about character motivation, botches the deal and must impersonate The Boss of It All for another week. Insufficiently guided by his duplicitous director, he ignores how his character has behaved with his staff via email, and must suddenly improvise wildly. Shot in Automavision©, in which the camera and sound recording is operated randomly by a computer: beware chopped off heads and strange camera angles.