The Name of this Book is Dogme95 [Paperback]

Richard Kelly (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 11, 2001

The first in-depth examination of the popular and controversial Danish film movement.

The future of filmmaking starts here. What began as a ripple of discontent in Denmark has turned into a full-fledged new wave. In 1995, when Lars von Trier, not yet the award-winning director of Breaking the Waves, and three comrades issued a tenpoint "Vow of Chastity" for the making of simpler, more truthful movies, cynics in the film business refused to take it seriously. Five years later, the international success of the raw, uncompromising Dogme95 films -- most notably The Celebration and The Idiots -- has fired a volley of shots across the bows of a staid and bloated Hollywood-driven industry. Richard Kelly's investigation of the Dogme95 movement is a piece of "gonzo journalism" in which Kelly sallies forth in search of the Dogme brothers and their accomplices, seeking to hammer out truth from rumor in what is itself an appropriately austere and anarchic piece of cinematic mischief. Composed of interviews with the filmmakers, discursive overviews of the films and shooting, and Kelly's own diaries, The Name of This Book Is Dogme95 is nothing short of a piece of instant film history.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A hearty attempt to make sense of Dogme . . . [and] . . . an engaging documentary."
--Premiere

"At last, the perfect documentary for cineastes and fans of Danish cinema."
--Hollywood Reporter

From the Inside Flap

"Richard Kelly's engaging investigation of the Dogme movement . . . takes several pot shots at mainstream cinema. Kelly is also an astute observer of Dogme eccentricities and the movement's place in film history, and his book--a kind of travel narrative--is written in a breezy, accessible style." --Jonathan Bing, Variety

"Serious students of cinema will enjoy Richard Kelly's investigation of Lars von Trier's Vow of Chastity, a 10-point manifesto intended to create 'simpler, more truthful, less boring movies'. It is a lot more fun than Festen." --London Evening Standard, 'Film Books of the Year'

"Extremely illuminating, often hilarious . . . Kelly has avoided the trap of deathly-dullness that most arthouse companions fall into. If you want to know more about Dogme then this is the best place yet." --Total Film

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Faber & Faber (April 11, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0571203329
• ISBN-13: 978-0571203321
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,405,759 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Quite simply tells you all you need to know about Dogme95, January 10, 2005

By 

dragonness (Cambridge, MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Name of this Book is Dogme95 (Paperback)

I disagree with the reviewer below who criticises the book for not exploring more thoroughly the impact of Dogme95 on digital film-making - while Dogme production so far proves that DV is a perfectly viable way to make films, that's not what it set out to do. The authors of Dogme95 themselves have repeatedly said that this wasn't about digital video at all. The book clarifies that Trier's and Vinterberg's initial motivation for the Manifesto was to prohibit all those things that make Hollywood untruthful, unrealistic and annoying. It also confirms that the Dogme rules were set to be broken, to encourage other filmmakers to create rules of their own, and to generally revive what Hollywood has turned into a technology-led industry where the director and writer hardly have a say any more. The fact that the Dogme rules require a greater immediacy in the approach to making a film naturally led the directors to use DV, to 'shoot from the hip', but that was a side-effect of the movemenet and not its objective.

I actually like the simple, interview-style approach Kelly has to the material. There's been so much hype around this movement, so much misunderstanding, that the best way to explain it is not to try to explain it, but to let its authors say it in their own words.

Kelly maintains respect for his subject while not taking himself too seriously: the book is a quick and easy read, sprinkled with self-deprecating Brit humour.

I would just encourage readers to see the movies first as there are necessarily quite a few spoilers in the book.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The results of Richard Kelly's journalistic inquiry, August 9, 2001

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Name of this Book is Dogme95 (Paperback)

Richard Kelly decided to research the Dogme95 movement launched in March 1995 by Danish director Lars von Trier and three of his friends as part of a "new wave" of avant-garde film of simpler, more truthful, and less boring movies. But with the emergence of such Dogme95 films as Festen, The Idiots, Mifune, and The King is Alive, Danish cinema was galvanized, energized and engaged in a show of solidarity against the Hollywood mainstream. The results of Richard Kelly's journalistic inquiry is now published, available, and highly recommended to film students, movie critics, cultural historians, film school reference libraries, and the non-specialist general reader as The Name Of This Book Is Dogme95.

0 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Not well researched, December 14, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The Name of this Book is Dogme95 (Paperback)

There doesn't seem to be any voice to the author. This book is like a college term paper on DOGME--I give it a C. The book reads like a collection of magazine articles or an unauthorized biography. We have seen most of this material covered in indie filmmaker magazines countless times before. Dogme is a niche component of a larger digital film movement that is sweeping cinema and threatening celluloid. I would have appreciated more discussion of the impact and influence of dogme on the current mavericks of digital filmmakers that are arising and gaining respect. Digital filmmaking has greatly impacted the short film industry. Where does dogme and short film co-exist