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A Masterpiece!

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

Wonderfully judged, dry-as-a-bone comedy from Lars Von Trier. A likeably eccentric bunch of desk jockeys are led by an excellent central performance from Jens Albinus (Dancer in the Dark, The Idiots), with strong support from Peter Gantzler (Smilla's Feeling For Snow); Iben Hjejle (High Fidelity) and Sofie Gråbøl (her from in the jumper from The Killing). The story is satisfyingly complex and suitably farcical, and there are touches of simple genius throughout, from nicely timed chapter headings in the form of Von Trier's sardonic narration, to the 'careless' editing that keeps the film grounded in 'reality'. Albinus has a lovely comic touch, but LVT is the star, more comedy please, Herr Von Trier!

Taking a break between poststructuralist slave drama Manderlay and the embittered, genitalia-snipping horror movie Antichrist, Danish provocateur Lars von Trier released this no-budget Danish movie The Boss of it All (Direktøren for det hele, på dansk). With a stripped down, quasi-Dogme aesthetic, and some of the best actors Denmark has on offer, this return to roots screwball sitcom instantly recalls the various incarnations of BBC's The Office. It's an intentionally lighthearted, but ultimately forgettable blip in this prodigious filmmaker's erratic career.Opening without a title sequence, we are greeted by the warm, nasally voice of Lars himself. Talking to the audience through speech, whilst we see his reflection in the window of the office building he is shooting, our humble narrator outlines that the following film will be "an unpretentious 'hygge' movie (the most untranslatable Danish word, roughly meaning cosy, fun and/or sexy)". In his typical, tongue-in-cheek manner, he continues to say that the film won't take up much of our brainpower, or require any afterthought. It's a bold, anti-artistic opening gambit, stolen first from Godard, and used previously in LvT's overlooked TV series Riget (The Kingdom, på engelsk). However, being the notoriously dubious filmmaker that he is, we're instantly questioning his intentions. There's no way LvT could make a flippant film about nothing, is there?Following the prologue, we meet out players. With his dwindling company on the verge of being sold, meek businessman Ravn (Peter Rantzler - Italian for Beginners, In China they Eat Dogs) hires the hapless method actor Kristoffer (played brilliantly by Jens Albinus - Dancer in the Dark, The Idiots) to pose as the previously unseen CEO, ready to sign the final payoff and break the news to the company's employees. It's a bonkers idea, played out in typical slapstick fashion, with Kristoffer trying to 'find' his character, with his reticent stares leading to bust-ups, marriage proposals, and 'over the ergonomic office table' bonks.Far from being a two horse race, Trier's script gives space for the ancillary characters to shine, but only insofar as Danish stereotypes will allow. There's the earthy Jutland farm boy Gorm (Casper Christensen), the red-blooded saleswoman Lise (Iben Hjele) and the hot- headed Finnish tycoon buying up the company (Friðrik þór Friðriksson). Also of note is the stunning Sofie Gråbøl as the contract attorney sealing the deal, and currently whipping Guardian readers into a frenzy as Sarah Lund in Danish crime series Forbrydelsen, aka The Killing.Whilst I wasn't thrilled by this one-dimensional farce, there is some depth behind all the levity and, 'how's your father' dalliance. With Kristoffer trying so desperately to flesh out the boss of it all character, mixed with Ravn's downplayed subservience, it's an allegory on the relationship between filmmaker and performer. Known for being such a difficult, resolute, and allegedly tear-inducing taskmaster, Lars von Trier's The Boss of it All is wryly telling everybody to lighten up. It's only a movie, after all.

With Lars Von Trier's "The Boss of It All" (2006) welcome to an odd dozen characters in search of meaning. Here is Kafka Land, Luigi Pirandello Place. "The Boss of It All" puts the audience in a modern cube of a building that could be in New Jersey or Denmark in any modern, widget-selling company. "The Boss of It All" is comic desert not office comedy. Here are the delights of the absurd without its fun, its articulate melancholy, or the slapstick darkness of "Waiting for Godot". In "The Boss of It All" business is sheer busyness. One critic @: "http://www.filmcritic.com/" put the film's core issue very well: "careerism and the business world have surpassed brutality and arrived in the realm of hostile idiocy." Yes. But is this not dishonest on Von Trier's part? Isn't he in the movie industry? This film aches with nihilism. "The Boss of It All" confirms Camus's remark: "The modern mind is in complete disarray. Knowledge has stretched itself to the point where neither the world nor our intelligence can find any foot-hold. It is a fact...we are suffering from nihilism."

Finally a breath of fresh air, after being let down by several of the long awaited features of my favorite directors (such as INLAND EMPIRE and The Fountain, both of which were good but not adequate considering the directors) von Trier delivers.After the heavy handed Manderlay and Dogville von Trier decided he needed to take a "dogme pill" to recharge his batteries and what we have is this fine gem. While this is a comedy it is a very different kind of comedy, it is a self aware comedy but even more than that it is a comedy that is also willing to take on more abstract concepts.Just like the late Ingmar Bergman, von Trier has a real knack for comedy even though he hardly goes in that direction. The basic premise of the film is that an actor is hired on as a fictional boss, conjured up by the real boss who wanted someone to hide behind. What adds a fine twist to that is that most of the employees feel that they know the boss to some degree because they have received letters and emails from him throughout the companies history, leading to some very funny situations.What I love about von Trier's films is that they do not ask permission, and they do not apologize for being what they are. Von Trier is a bold artist and is the only consistently brilliant filmmaker working today.