The Five Obstructions

2003 · 90 MIN · IMDB 7.4 · 9,419 VOTES · DIR. Lars von Trier, Jørgen Leth

The Five Obstructions poster

Overview

Lars von Trier challenges his mentor, filmmaker Jørgen Leth, to remake Leth’s 1967 short film The Perfect Human five times, each with a different set of bizarre and challenging rules.

Dialogue Timeline — 810 lines

A SAMPLE ACROSS THE RUNTIME — EVERY LINE IS SEARCHABLE

00:00:22 What i was thinking...
00:03:20 So the film must be shot in cuba. Obviously.
00:06:27 I'm dan. The photographer.
00:09:04 I can't wait to show it to you, i must say.
00:12:17 Here is the perfect human.
00:14:56 I don't know -
00:17:43 - It's not merely a pose. - Not at all.
00:20:47 - that i hope to understand in a few days.
00:25:27 A scene i wrote for him but which he completely improvised.
00:29:03 The transparent screen we stretched out -
00:34:54 - that i hope to understand in a few days.
00:37:34 "Yet another suicidal situation!"
00:39:59 - With me again, for example. - Maybe.
00:43:58 What is the perfect human like to touch?
00:49:02 She leaves the frame. Repeated several times. We've shot that.
00:55:48 They may have hurt, but you're unmarked.
00:58:21 I'm going to make a very, very, very simple rule for the next film.
01:01:17 - but it mustn't look as if it's been recycled or repeated.
01:06:51 Here there are no limits. Here there is nothing.
01:13:26 - will be that you do nothing at all -
01:16:14 You look happier and happier...
01:18:55 "Jorgen is a wretch, just like me."
01:21:23 Dear lars, thank you for your obstructions.
02:00:00 Just make it.

Cast & Characters

Dialogue Record

Lines indexed810
Dialogue density9.0 lines / min
First line00:00:22
Final line02:00:00

Production Record

DirectorLars von Trier, Jørgen Leth
LanguageDanish
IMDb votes9,419