Thomas Weisser (noted Japanese and Asian film critic):
Selected Film Titles
Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg co-wrote this as a response to the technological innovations that were democraticizing the production of film. It was also a statement to protect the avante-garde and affirm its importance at a time when anyone could make film. The principle tenets imposed a kind of chastity on the film-maker and was contra-Hollywood normative sensibilities: shooting was to be done on location, the sound must be recorded with the images, the camera must be hand-held, the film must be in colour, there must be no murders or weapons, temporal and geographical alienation must be avoided, genre movies are not acceptable, and the director must not be credited.
Vinterberg did “Festen” (1998) in this style and von Trier contributed, among others, his “Goldheart” trilogy: “Breaking the Waves” (1996), “The Idiots” (1998), and “Dancer in the Dark” (2000).