By the second half of the 90s, making movies with the sole purpose of making blockbusters was the goal of most movie makers. There had been a shift from traditional filmmaking to where the only objective was to create something eye-catching that would please the masses. This meant less originality and more over the top unnecessary technical effects. This is where Danish filmmakers Lars von Trier, Kristian Levring, Søren Kragh-Jacobsen, and Thomas Vinterberg come in. Frustrated with the takeover and the lack of originality with these big-budget filmmakers, they created the cinematic style Dogme 95 in 1995.

Dogme 95 seeks to return filmmaking to its most basic forms while eschewing the extra special effects and sensationalized narratives that characterized popular cinema. They intended to demonstrate that quality is not determined by budget to make a point. The four founders are pictured below.

They created their manifesto, The Vows of Chastity, a stringent set of guidelines for this style. The Vows of Chastity are intense, but crucial to fulfill to the core to truly create a Dogme 95 style film.

Notable rules are as follows:

Shooting must be done on location.
Props and sets must not be brought in (if a particular prop is necessary for the story, a location must be chosen where this prop is to be found).
The camera must be hand-held. Any movement or immobility attainable in the hand is permitted.
The sound must never be produced apart from the images or vice versa (Music must not be used unless it occurs where the scene is being shot).
The director must not be credited.
The film format must be Academy 35 mm.

And this is just to name a few!

Three years after the movement’s inception, in 1998, the very first official Dogme 95 movie was released. Thomas Vinterberg’s Festen (The Celebration) is a dark comedy-drama about a family reunion that exposes a significant and sinister family secret. It became one of the most highly praised movies produced during the Dogme 95 movement. By taking home the Jury Prize at Cannes in 1998, it established its enormous success.

Another popular Dogme film is Lars von Trier’s Idioterne (The Idiots). The movie centers on a group of individuals who imitate people with disabilities in an effort to “socially rebel.” Even though The Idiots received a lot of negative press when it first came out, it was nominated for the Palme d’Or at Cannes in 1998. Since the film’s premiere, von Trier has acknowledged that a number of production choices were made that violated the Dogme 95 guidelines, including the use of a stand-in actor and tampering with light sources. This demonstrated that this concept was not as viable as they had believed.

Dogme 95 started to lose favor at the beginning of the two thousands, and many filmmakers turned away from its strict tenets. There are a total of 35 Dogme movies from 1995-2005, 10 of which are from Denmark, with Lars von Trier as the movement’s most well-known representative on a global scale.

Even with this fairly small number of productions, there are countless filmmakers that draw inspiration from this movement as it challenges the filmmaker to think outside the box, use their ingenuity and not rely on big budgets. So, even though the golden age of Dogme 95 style was not long lasting, it had a big impact and the legacy still lives.