The film's narrative is driven by these specific creative hurdles:
Directed by and Jørgen Leth , the film is structured as a cinematic game of "cat and mouse." Von Trier challenges his former teacher and mentor, Leth, to remake his own 1967 short masterpiece, The Perfect Human ( Det perfekte menneske ), five different times. Each time, von Trier imposes a set of increasingly difficult and arbitrary "obstructions" designed to force Leth out of his aesthetic comfort zone. The Five Obstructions De fem benspГ¦nd
: It explores the tension between a respectful student (von Trier) trying to "break" his idol to see what makes him tick. The film's narrative is driven by these specific
: The film argues that absolute freedom can be paralyzing, whereas strict rules can spark unexpected genius. : The film argues that absolute freedom can
Leth must remake the film in Cuba with no set and no shot lasting longer than 12 frames (roughly half a second). Despite the grueling technical constraint, Leth produces a film that von Trier finds "too good," as it retains Leth's signature elegance.
Leth must film in a "miserable" location without showing it to the audience. He chooses the red-light district of Mumbai. Von Trier also insists Leth play the role of "The Perfect Human" himself, forcing the filmmaker to feast on a salmon dinner behind a transparent screen while impoverished locals look on in the background.
Paradoxically, von Trier "obstructs" Leth by giving him no rules at all. Suspecting a trap, Leth returns to Brussels and creates a noirish, stylized version that von Trier eventually dismisses as a failure for being too much of a "classic" Leth film.