Direktøren for det hele (2006)

Director:

Lars von Trier

Writer:

Lars von Trier (writer)

Release Date:

8 December 2006 (Denmark)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

An IT company hires an actor to serve as the company's president in order to help the business get sold to a cranky Icelander.

Plot Keywords:

Actor | Firm | Boss | Business | Negotiation

Awards:

1 win & 6 nominations

Cast

Jens Albinus	...	Direktøren for det hele / Kristoffer / Svend E
Peter Gantzler	...	Ravn
Friðrik Þór Friðriksson	...	Finnur (as Fridrik Thor Fridriksson)
Benedikt Erlingsson	...	Tolk
Iben Hjejle	...	Lise
Henrik Prip	...	Nalle
Mia Lyhne	...	Heidi A.
Casper Christensen	...	Gorm
Louise Mieritz	...	Mette
Jean-Marc Barr	...	Spencer
Sofie Gråbøl	...	Kisser
Anders Hove	...	Jokumsen
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Lars von Trier	...	Narrator (uncredited)

Directed by
Lars von Trier

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Lars von Trier		writer

Produced by
Lene Børglum	....	executive producer
Meta Louise Foldager	....	producer
Eva Jakobsen	....	assistant producer
Peter Aalbæk Jensen	....	executive producer
Signe Leick Jensen	....	producer (as Signe Jensen)
Skuli Fr. Malmquist	....	co-producer
Thor Sigurjonsson	....	co-producer
Marianne Slot	....	co-producer
Vibeke Windeløv	....	producer

Film Editing by
Molly Marlene Stensgaard

Set Decoration by
Simone Grau

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Kristoffer Nyholm	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Peter Albrechtsen	....	sound assistant: pre-production
Kristian Eidnes Andersen	....	sound
Alex Hudd	....	sound consultant: dolby
Ad Stoop	....	sound

Visual Effects by
Peter Hjorth	....	Automavision developer

Camera and Electrical Department
Søren Pedersen	....	clapper loader
Claus Rosenløv Jensen	....	camera operator

Editorial Department
Sune F. Andersen	....	assistant editor
Julia Bloch	....	assistant editor
Bodil Kjærhauge	....	assistant editor
Karen Maarbjerg	....	post-production coordinator

Other crew
Lina Bach Christensen	....	production coordinator
Linda Daae	....	continuity
Peter Hartwig	....	software developer
Janus Schumacher	....	production assistant
Marie Sonne-Jensen	....	assistant to producer

Production Companies

• Zentropa Productions
• Memfis Film (co-production)
• Slot Machine (co-production)
• Lucky Red (co-production)
• Pain Unlimited GmbH Filmproduktion (co-production)
• Trollhättan Film AB (co-production)
• Liberator Productions (collaboration)
• Orione Cinematografica (co-production)
• Zik Zak Kvikmyndir (collaboration)
• Film i Väst (co-production)
• Sveriges Television (SVT) (co-production)
• Det Danske Filminstitut (co-production)
• Filmstiftung North Rhine Westphalia (co-production)
• Nordisk Film- & TV-Fond (co-production)
• Icelandic Film Center (co-production)
• Canal+ (with the participation of)

Distributors

• Bir Film (2006) (Turkey) (all media)
• A-Film Distribution (2007) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• ArtCam (2007) (Czech Republic) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• CP Classics (2007) (Russia) (theatrical)
• Diffusion Pictures (2007) (UK) (theatrical)
• IFC Films (2007) (USA) (theatrical)
• IFC First Take (2007) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Lucky Red (2007) (Italy) (theatrical)
• Nordisk Film Biografdistribution (2007) (Denmark) (theatrical)
• Seville Pictures (2006) (Canada) (theatrical)
• A-Film Distribution (2009) (Belgium) (all media)
• A-Film Distribution (2009) (Luxembourg) (all media)
• A-Film Home Entertainment (2007) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Alpha Medienkontor (2009) (Germany) (all media)
• ArtCam (2009) (Czech Republic) (all media)
• ArtCam (2009) (Slovakia) (all media)
• Budapest Film (2009) (Hungary) (all media)
• California Filmes (2009) (Brazil) (all media)
• Central Partnership (2009) (Russia) (all media)
• Golem Distribución (2009) (Spain) (all media)
• Green Light Films (2009) (Iceland) (all media)
• Gutek Film (2009) (Poland) (all media)
• Independent Film '97 (2009) (Romania) (all media)
• LNK Audiovisuais (2009) (Portugal) (all media)
• Les Films Séville (2009) (Canada) (all media)
• Les Films du Losange (2009) (France) (all media)
• Medusa Home Entertainment (2007) (Italy) (DVD)
• Shani Films (2009) (Israel) (all media)
• Sonet Film (2009) (Denmark) (all media)
• Sonet Film (2009) (Finland) (all media)
• Sonet Film (2009) (Sweden) (all media)
• TV2 Norge (2009) (Norway) (all media)
• Zentropa Real ApS (2007) (Denmark) (all media)

Other Companies

• Soundtrack  trailer

Also Known As:

The Boss of It All (Germany) (International: English title)
Direktören för det hele (Sweden)
Il grande capo (Italy)
Le direktør (France)

Runtime:

99 min

Country:

Denmark | Sweden | Iceland | Italy | France | Norway | Finland | Germany

Language:

Danish | Icelandic | English | Russian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Argentina:13 | Netherlands:6 | Singapore:M18 | Italy:T (original rating) | Italy:VM14 (re-rating) | Brazil:16 | South Korea:18 | Australia:MA | Norway:10 (TV rating) | USA:Not Rated

Company:

Zentropa Productions

Trivia:

This movie is shot with camera technique called Automavision, an innovation in which the camera angles and movements are selected by a computer. The media notes explain technique, "a principle for shooting film developed with the intention of limiting human influence by inviting chance in from the cold". There are odd framings and jump cuts within scenes making everything seem a bit unsettled.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Automavison - Det nye regelsæt (2007) (V)

"Life is a Dogma film. It's hard to hear but the words are important."

"You have a knack for deliberate mental cruelty." "You're right, but I'm better at being irritating on an intuitive level."

With his often unlikely plotting, emphasis on stripped-down style over structure and fascination with stripping away the suspension of disbelief of most films to highlight their artificiality, it's fair to say that Lars Von Trier isn't to everyone's taste. After films like Breaking the Waves and Dancer in the Dark he also seems an unlikely candidate to try his hand at a comedy, but the mischievous sense of humour that's run through his work since the TV series The Kingdom finds a perfect outlet in The Boss of it All. The plot might seem almost as if it could do service as a mainstream Hollywood comedy, but in many ways it's the perfect match of premise and filmmaker.

Gambini-obsessed bad actor Kristoffer (Jens Albnus) is hired by Ravn (Peter Gantzler) to pretend to be the boss of the company he's planning to sell. Ravn has been the real boss of the company for years, but is so desperate to be liked by his staff that the only way he can pass on bad news is by blaming it all on an invisible owner in America. Despite the fact that at first Kristoffer reads far more into the text than there is ("It says far more than it says" he notes of his underwritten part: "I had hoped it would say as little as possible," replies the whiz-at-contracts Ravn), unfortunately, Ravn's so desperate not to be disliked that he doesn't fill Kristoffer in on the full script, expecting the hapless actor to improvise his way through a minefield of imaginary relationships the staff have created with him over the years. Finding himself alternately seduced, punched or engaged to them at various times, he soon discovers that the real boss of it all is a much better actor than he is...

The stage is set for a playful examination of the way people's vanity inevitably finds them playacting both at work and in their personal relationships in their desperation to either fit in or at least have an easy life, allowing Von Trier plenty of opportunities to take swipes at acting in general (and in Denmark in particular) as well as the vagaries of business politics. What's surprising is how funny much of it is, from Kristoffer's obsession with getting to the 'truth' of his character (complete with dramatic pauses and would-be burning looks that just confuse people) to the obnoxious saga-obsessed Icelandic tycoon who wants to settle 400 years of national humiliation by humiliating the Danish company. And running through it all is a sly commentary on movie-making and the power struggle between actor and director (the Danish title is Direktøren for det Hele). Of course, humour is a personal thing, and it may be funnier if you've worked in that kind of office environment or know enough self-obsessed actors to recognise the absurdity, and for some Von Trier's interruptions to comment on the film or his use of computer-chosen camera angles that don't always capture the action and give some of the film a disjointed feel will take them out of the film or simply irritate. But if you're on the right wavelength, there's a lot of fun to be had with The Boss of It All.