Back in 1995, Danish directors Thomas Vinterberg and Lars Von Triers founded a movement called Dogme 95 that eschewed conventional filmmaking tools such as Alist actors, artificial light, makeup and special effects. For Vinterberg, this naturalistic approach yielded 1998’s “Festen (The Celebration)” — one of the more critically acclaimed films that nobody saw that year.
With an eye on commercial success perhaps (critical acclaim doesn’t pay the rent), Vinterberg has done a complete about face in his latest film, “It’s All About Love,” which features Joaquin Phoenix and Claire Danes embracing all the trappings of big-budget excess.
Why the change of heart? According to Vinterberg, Dogme is all about innovation, and in rejecting the tenets of his own movement he is, in essence, innovating. Hey, the “do the opposite” trick worked for George Costanza on “Seinfeld” right? It doesn’t work here, though. Vinterberg admits that the deliriously disjointed plot exists merely as a means of translating his thoughts on everything from shifting weather patterns to fatal heartache. As the designated interpreters of the director’s scattershot musings, Phoenix and Danes are as hopelessly lost as you might expect. Sean Penn appears briefly in a head-scratching cameo as a guy who lives — literally — on airplanes, where he passes the time smoking cigarettes and pondering the meaning of life. Not sure what that’s all about. (Rated R for a scene of strong violence, some language and sexuality. Running time: 104 minutes)
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on October 29, 2004. Read the original PDF.