Jørgen Leth Movies

Veteran experimental filmmaker Jorgen Leth explores the nature of eroticism and his own sensual fantasies and appetites in this personal documentary. In Det Erotiske Menneske (aka Erotic Man), Leth travels around the world as he recreates the same scene: a nude woman lies on a bed in a hotel room, thinking out loud about the man she loves who has gone away. Leth visits the Caribbean, South America and Asia as he sets up casting sessions with a variety of different women and shoots the scene over and over again, in different hotel rooms with many different actresses while achieving similar results. While initially Leth insists this is a dramatization of a moment from his own past, with each take it becomes obvious that he's actually obsessing over a fantasy, and it's meaning seems to change each time he tries to bring it back to life. During downtime from his shooting schedule, Leth obsesses over the female form, discovers he has a hard time turning women down for the project, and ponders his own relationship with his lover Dorothie Laguerre. Produced in part by Lars von Trier, Erotic Man was an official selection at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Danish auteur Lars von Trier directs the documentary-of-sorts The Five Obstructions (De Fem Benspænd). In 2001, von Trier convinces veteran filmmaker Jørgen Leth to create five remakes of his 1967 short The Perfect Human. Calling himself the Obstructor, von Trier orders Leth to make his films in various parts of the world with extremely specific demands. For instance, the first film must be shot in Cuba with no set with only 12 frames per shot. The five remakes-within-the-film are "The Perfect Human: Bombay," "The Perfect Human: Brussels," "The Perfect Human: Cartoon," "The Perfect Human: Cuba," and "The Perfect Human: Avedøre, Denmark." Each has its own set of ridiculous limitations created by von Trier. The Five Obstructions was shown at the Sundance Film Festival as part of a special screening. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi

This is an entertaining documentary about people of all ages enjoying various activities that reflect the human propensity to play, to create, to be artful, and to live life for its own sake. On view are costumed dancers in Bali, a little 6-year-old pianist having fun at the ivories, a bullfighter in rehearsal, and even kids fishing on the Amazon. A musical score by the talented Antonio Carlos Jobim enhances the upbeat tenor of this tribute to people at play -- or those who work as though it were play. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

Watch bicyclists compete in the Giro d'Italia. ~ Rovi

At the end of the 1970s, a jaded reporter goes to Haiti to try to get an interview with "Baby Doc" Duvalier, and to El Salvador to film the horrors of guerrilla warfare (including a shot of many skeletons in a field). These extreme situations fail to engage his interest and he spends a lot of time in discos or looking for sex -- his objective is reached when he finds a striking woman (Danish) and initiates a physical relationship with her. When she disappears one day, he goes on what seems to be a fruitless, unending search that mirrors his earlier feeling of "going nowhere." That feeling dominates throughout this existential film. The dialogue was written on a day-by-day basis, producing disconnected events and a murky context. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

The April 11, 1976 running of the 273 kilometer annual Paris to Robaix bicycle race, won by a complete unknown, is the subject of this documentary. The route takes competitors over a wide variety of road surfaces, from country dirt roads to cobblestones, as well as the usual macadamized roadway. Besides covering the entire race from start to finish, this film also considers some surrounding circumstances, such as a printer's strike against the sponsoring newspaper which nearly resulted in the cancellation of the race. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

Bicycle-racing fans will delight in this Danish documentary which followed the 22-day Giro d'Italia in 1973 and brought back footage of legendary cyclists Ole Ritter, Eddie Merckx, Gimonde, Fuente and Motta as they compete in this grueling sport. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi