"Dogma" as a guide to action

The Danish manifesto "Dogme 95" caused a sensation in the world of cinema and gave birth to the most fashionable film movement of the late 90s. Some compare it to the French “new wave” and regard it as the latest revolution in film language.

Six films have already been completed, the titles of which are preceded by an official seal certifying that the film was made in accordance with the requirements of Dogma; others are on the way. Directors Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg who signed the document should be pleased. They managed to outsmart everyone. Whatever position you take, you still play by their rules. But any single method, taken to the absolute level, is wrong (von Trier made his debut film “The Element of Crime” about this). There are four aspects - their sum alone can give a more or less objective idea of the movement. “Dogma” should be viewed as an ideology, an aesthetic, an artistic endeavor, and a marketing technique.
Ideology. As an ideology, Dogma does not stand up to criticism. The very idea of a set of rules (there are ten of them) dictating how to shoot, and therefore claiming to be the ultimate knowledge of “how to”, is highly archaic. The world says goodbye to totalitarian consciousness and gets used to pluralistic consciousness - there can be neither a center nor a single truth in it.
However, the readiness with which the film world rushed into the arms of “Dogma” is also understandable. The postmodern project is over; a culture in which everything is allowed has not happened. And the confused mainstream, having experienced a crisis of freedom, naturally reached for the whip. It is significant that the whip came from the European province (otherwise the performance of the dogmatic Danes cannot be explained except by the inferiority complex of small Europeans): the province is rushing to the center.
Aesthetics. Behind all of Dogma's demands is an obvious desire to "bring life back to the screen." You can only shoot on location, without decorations or artificial light, without optical distortion or filters, with direct sound and a hand-held camera. There should be no murders or other “exaggerations.” The genre is prohibited. Everything here is not as obvious as it seems. The point is not even that the films themselves sometimes violate the rules with stamps (in “The Idiots,” for example, extraneous music is heard). In general, they were filmed sequentially: on video, “from the shoulder”, with an ugly, jerky, grainy picture, with poor sound - in general, under a TV report from the scene of the dispersal of the demonstration. It’s easy to be deceived, but you shouldn’t: of course, this is not life, but a stylization of life. Artlessness is used here as a technique of art. The cinema of the end of the century, under the guise of “new spontaneity”, subconsciously tries not to make peace, but to finally demarcate itself from reality, but to do this on its own territory.
Promotion. Actually, none of this is serious. Von Trier (he is the main initiator of the action) was simply making fun of us once again, just as the artist Brener once challenged Yeltsin to box. As a provocateur, von Trier succeeded most of all: the depressed world of cinema really perked up and began to think again about the need to be “modern.” This is a real achievement of "Dogma".
Marketing. The real value of "Dogma" was expressed in the improvement of the material well-being of its creators. As a publicity stunt, Dogma worked perfectly. This is how the advertising trick for the film “The Crying Game” worked before her: “Don’t tell your friends how it all ended.” So after it, a publicity stunt worked for the film “The Blair Witch Project: Coursework from the Other World,” filmed in an aesthetic close to “Dogma” (the film is presented as video material found in the forest - the only thing left of the students who filmed it). It is characteristic that today a project, initially declared as avant-garde, not only organically merges with the mainstream, but also sells well.

MIKHAIL BRASHINSKY

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"Dogma" or Vow of Chastity
I swear to follow the following rules derived and approved by Dogma-95.
1. Filming must be done on location. You cannot bring any props or props. (If any necessary item is not available in a given location, you should find another site.)
2. Sound should never be recorded separately from the image and vice versa. (Music should not be used unless it arises outside of you - it simply sounds on the chosen nature.)
3. The camera must be handheld. Any movement or lack of movement of the hand is allowed. (The film should not be shot where the camera is installed, but the camera should be installed where the film is shot.)
4. The film must be in color. Artificial lighting is not allowed. (If there is not enough light, you should crop the scene or add one light bulb to the camera.)
5. Combined shooting and filters are prohibited.
6. The film should not contain external action. (Murder, weapons, etc. are excluded.)
7. Temporary and geographical exclusion is prohibited. (The film takes place here and now.)
8. Genre films are unacceptable.
9. The film format must be Academy 35 mm.
10. The director's name should not appear in the credits.
From now on, I swear as a director to refrain from displaying personal taste! I swear to refrain from creating “works” because a moment is more valuable than eternity. My highest goal is to squeeze the truth out of my characters and circumstances. I swear to comply with these rules by all available means, without being constrained by considerations of good taste or any aesthetic concepts.
Hereby I confirm my vow of chastity.
Copenhagen, Monday, March 13, 1995.
On behalf of Dogma 95: Lars von Trier, Thomas Vinterberg.

Translation from English by Nina Tsyrkun.

Magazine "Kommersant Power" No. 37 dated 09.21.1999, p. 43