The Death of Dogme

So. I'm watching the vfx making-of video for 'Melancholia' by Platige Image and it strikes me that the process featured is about as anti-'Dogme' as you can get.

In case you don't remember, Dogme, or Dogme 95 as it was called, is (or was) the agreement among filmmakers, led by Lars von Trier (director of 'Melancholia), to follow strict rules when making movies. These included not using studio sets, allowing actors to improvise dialogue, avoiding make-up, using only hand-held cameras, and not depending on special effects to tell your story.

I guess the idea was to achieve a vérité quality in movies which would connect in a more real way with regular people and yield a more powerful, meaningful experience. Okay. Fine. Nice rules. Don't know exactly what it has to do with storytelling in general or why we need a set of rules about it but...nice dogma, especially if it doesn't change anything about the way you already work and doesn't represent a compromise in order to adhere to, which it didn't, not for von Trier, not back in 95. But, whatever.

The thing is, though, 'Melancholia', with the exception of using hand-held cameras for general photography, doesn't follow the rules created by its director.

I checked out the Dogme 'vow of chastity' at Wikipedia. Not sure how accurate the source is, but what they have seems to fall in line with what I've heard over the years, so I'll roll with it. Rule #5 says 'no optical work', and #4 forbids the use of special lighting (with the exception of a single lamp which may be attached to the camera if light sources are not sufficient for photography), and #7 insists stories must take place 'in the here and now' and avoid 'temporal and geographical alienation'. Here's a still from 'Melancholia':

Is that a sun, moon, and another planet visible in the sky? Last time I checked, we don't got no extra objects in our sky. How is this accomplished without optical or special effects? The subjects are lit from the front, back, and both sides. I don't think a 'single lamp attached to the camera' could achieve this look, and suspect some special lighting may have been used. The characters are on an Earth that exists in an alternate reality. How is this 'here and now'? Sounds like temporal and/or geographic alienation to me.

Dogme rule #2 dictates that 'music must not be used unless it occurs within the scene being filmed', as in: by musicians or a radio or stereo depicted within the scene. However, the trailer features music. Lush orchestral music. A soundtrack recorded in a studio. Is this a bait and switch? In order to adhere to film Dogme, will there be no music in the movie despite its presence in the trailer? I'm thinking 'Melancholia' will have music even though there will not be a depiction of musicians who happen to be hanging around recording the soundtrack to a movie. 

Rule #10 says the director is not to be credited. This card doesn't quite cut it:

Okay. Sure. It doesn't say 'Directed By' but still...the implication is clear. Shouldn't Lars insist his name not appear in this manner lest someone assume he was the director of 'Melancholia' and give him due credit as such? Perhaps that's a bit unreasonable, BUT THE RULES... They say!

If you're going to make a Dogme-style film with vfx that might come from a Michael Bay or Roland Emmerich production, which requires utilizing an effects house like Platige Image, well, is that Dogme? Maybe it's time we give the whole Dogme dogma a rest.

1995 was a long time ago. I remember thinking it was just so much hoo-ha way back then. Now, some 15 or so years later it tickles me to see where things have ended up. Sounded high and mighty and oh so profound back then, but it's time to move on.

I like von Trier, make no mistake. 'Breaking the Waves' is flat-out brilliant, (though it has some special visual effects, let's not go there just now). He's a damned good director. But, I think he and the other guys who cooked up the rather highfalutin set of rules known as Dogme knew it was a crock of shit at the time. Was then, is now. Nobody even bothered to follow it. You use what you need to get the shot. Low tech, high tech, digital wizardry. Whatever it takes. Come on. Who's fooling who?

Mr. von Trier:

Please lay off the posturing. Use the tools you need to make your movies. As long as the story is okay and the picture constantly jitters and wobbles because you use hand-held cameras, that will be close enough to the Dogme thing for us. We won't mind if there's cutting edge visual effects and special lighting and searing music that make the experience totally absorbing and memorable.

Of course, if you want to use stedi-cam or a dolly on tracks we won't mind that, either.

Rock on dude.


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