"Direktøren for det hele" is one fun ride, in general. Almost as enjoyable as the plot and the surreal situations that the premise generates is Von Trier's style -or lack thereof- in shooting the movie: bad framing, frequent cuts, characters that sometimes virtually disappear from the scene, irregular sound, no soundtrack... It could be argued -and would probably be a very valid point- that what is considered "style" and "personality" in Von Trier would be a series of very serious film-making mistakes, but, at any rate, the effect is refreshing.
Now as to the plot. Ravn, the owner of an IT company wants to sell it, but he's been hiding his identity all the time, pretending to be an employee; in acting that way, he's earned the trust and friendship of his co-workers -actually, his employees-, especially of the six creative minds of the company, which make up a very varied and funny mosaic of personalities. He's trying to sell the company to an irate Icelandic businessman, but he doesn't want to come out as the big boss, so he hires a friend actor, Kristoffer, to pass himself off as the boss. Many surreal and confusing situations will ensue; and also situations that will put Ravn's and Kristoffer's moral standards to the test.
I enjoyed this movie, but I have to add that it doesn't work as a comedy -this is something else, perhaps a farce, or a Trieresque view of a comedy, but it certainly didn't provoke the usual reactions that a comedy does; maybe it was labelled as "comedy" because it needed a label, but I don't think it's the right one for this. I recommend watching it with an open mind -if you do so, you'll probably enjoy it as much as I did.
Now as to the plot. Ravn, the owner of an IT company wants to sell it, but he's been hiding his identity all the time, pretending to be an employee; in acting that way, he's earned the trust and friendship of his co-workers -actually, his employees-, especially of the six creative minds of the company, which make up a very varied and funny mosaic of personalities. He's trying to sell the company to an irate Icelandic businessman, but he doesn't want to come out as the big boss, so he hires a friend actor, Kristoffer, to pass himself off as the boss. Many surreal and confusing situations will ensue; and also situations that will put Ravn's and Kristoffer's moral standards to the test.
I enjoyed this movie, but I have to add that it doesn't work as a comedy -this is something else, perhaps a farce, or a Trieresque view of a comedy, but it certainly didn't provoke the usual reactions that a comedy does; maybe it was labelled as "comedy" because it needed a label, but I don't think it's the right one for this. I recommend watching it with an open mind -if you do so, you'll probably enjoy it as much as I did.