manifesto reading response
Futurists manifesto
“I stole my sister’s boyfriend. It was all whirlwind, heat, and flash. Within a week we killed my parents and hit the road.”
In a fiery stream of thought these young Italians, intoxicated by their appetite for life, have created an itinerary for themselves. It seems to be mostly a declaration to themselves in order to insure that what they are thinking and feeling now will be there tomorrow; a resolution to live life to its absolute fullest. They are so resolute in their obstinance and so adamant that the system be dismantled its inspiring and contagious. These are exactly the same things we hear from anarchists almost 100 years later. Everything has changed; nothing has changed.
Dogme 95
Like the futurists manifesto this is less of a statement to the public as much as it is a way to keep one another to their words; to have it on paper as a reminder to themselves in case their conviction for making this kind of film flounders. It is also a way to create a support network. When you quite smoking cigarettes for example, it is so much easier to do if you have someone their to remind you of your commitment not only towards your own personal goals but towards the goals you have set for yourselves as a team.
I can think of at least 2 Dogme rules Lars von Trier broke in the making of Dancer in the Dark alone. These rules are meant to be used a guidelines- used at the filmmakers convenience when he she needs tension between what he/she wants to make and what he/she can make. Out of this tension comes something unlike what the filmmaker would have typically made working within his/her comfort zone. It is said if you can foresee how something will look at its completion already during its creation, than it is likely to be stale and predictable.
