It is true that in recent times,documentary film as a genre has been popularized by American director Michael Moore.However,most documentary films are neither made for nor understood by ordinary viewers.Danish film "The Five Obstructions" is a documentary film which truly represents this rule.It is a documentary for a selected audience as it requires audience's active participation in order to learn more about the personalities of two important people connected with it namely Danish directors Lars Von Trier and Jørgen Leth.What is important to watch is the manner in which both directors appreciate each other's genius.It is the viewer who decides which director is the best."The Five Obstructions" has a lot of useful material for cinema students too.A serious film student can learn a lot by watching how some of Lars Von Trier's challenges have elevated cinema's status as a 'serious art'.As a puzzle about cinema and the possibilities it offers to make an honest comment about people and the art of cinema,The Five Obstructions is an interesting albeit serious watch for all viewers who believe that cinema is not always synonymous with entertainment.

This is more than a beautiful tribute to Jørgen Leth's artistic genius.It is also Lars' personal and intimate confession so powerful and emotive no doubt it is there to overwhelm you. As in many von Trier's movies the revelation comes at a climatic moment completely changing the direction and the pace of the film. And suddenly it reveals so many intricate details of the great friendship between these two extraordinary artists of our times.The five remakes of "The Perfect Human" are as fascinating as the original short and are not to be missed by anyone who is interested in world cinema.

Wildly inventive documentary experiments with alternate short film types as modern Danish mastermind Lars von Trier orders his friend and collaborator Jørgen Leth to reinterpret his classic short film "The Perfect Human" with five new orders to follow.The cinematic results yield five very interesting mini movies which are displayed throughout the behind-the-scenes footage of these two director's strategizing how to accomplish any given task.While fascinating purely from a technical love for cinema, The Five Obstructions ultimately feels like a pretentious and partially vacant exercise, exemplified best when von Trier's demanding arrogance leads to the underwhelming and pseudo-profound conclusion.

This documentary was a pleasant surprise. I saw the original short movie "The Perfect Human" before viewing this, which is about re-making "The Perfect Human" under different and more difficult circumstances (the five obstacles), and I recommend others to do the same. To truly enjoy this movie you should have some interest for art movies and movie-making in general. It is amusing to see the frustrations of the movie-maker in question, Jørgen Leth, as he is ordered to cripple his original "masterpiece". The movie shows how creativity and imagination is stimulated under the right circumstances. I felt inspired after viewing this movie and actually made my own version of the short movie together with some friends (still not cut, but it will probably be awful). All in all, interesting and fun but sometimes it gets me thinking that some of the chunks between the short movies should have been cut out.