Comedy

The Boss of It All

An IT company hires an actor to serve as the company's president in order to help the business get sold to a cranky Icelander.

Release Date : 2006-12-08

Language :DanishEnglishIcelandicRussian

Adult : false

Status : Released

Production Company : Zentropa EntertainmentsMemfis FilmSlot MachineLucky RedSVTDRFilm i VästLiberator ProductionsOrione CinematograficaPain Unlimited FilmproduktionTrollhättan Film

Production Country : DenmarkFranceItalySwedenGermany

Alternative Titles :

Cast

Character Name : The Boss of it All / Kristoffer / Svend E

Original Name : Jens Albinus

Gender : Male

Character Name : Ravn

Original Name : Peter Gantzler

Gender : Male

Character Name : Finnur

Original Name : Fridrik Thor Fridriksson

Gender : Male

Character Name : Interpreter

Original Name : Benedikt Erlingsson

Gender : Male

Character Name : Lise

Original Name : Iben Hjejle

Gender : Female

Character Name : Nalle

Original Name : Henrik Prip

Gender : Male

Character Name : Heidi A.

Original Name : Mia Lyhne

Gender : Female

Character Name : Gorm

Original Name : Casper Christensen

Gender : Male

Character Name : Mette

Original Name : Louise Mieritz

Gender : Female

Character Name : Spencer

Original Name : Jean-Marc Barr

Gender : Male

Character Name : Kisser

Original Name : Sofie Gråbøl

Gender : Female

Character Name : Jokumsen

Original Name : Anders Hove

Gender : Male

Character Name : Narrator (uncredited)

Original Name : Lars von Trier

Gender : Male

Reviews

badelf

@badelf

2025-01-20

The Boss of It All: Lars von Trier's Comedic Deconstruction of Control Who knew Lars von Trier could make us laugh? In "The Boss of It All", he doesn't just satirize corporate culture - he dismantles artistic pretension with surgical comedic precision. The film opens with von Trier himself, reflected in a window, perched in a cherry picker camera dolly - a literal deus ex machina, playing God while simultaneously mocking the very concept of directorial omnipotence. Here, he's gleefully playing God and immediately undermining himself. Using Automavision, a computer program that randomly determines camera angles, von Trier literally relinquishes directorial control. It's a brilliant mirror of the film's narrative: Ravn hiring an actor to be a fictional boss, thus avoiding personal responsibility. The director becomes just another actor in his own absurdist play. Kristoffer, the hired "boss", embodies this perfectly. "I have to consult my character," he says - a line that skewers both corporate role-playing and Dogme 95's Rule 6, which demands that action must be motivated solely by character emotion. It's a delicious mockery of the very artistic constraints von Trier champions. Ultimately, von Trier's message is disarmingly simple: Don't take life - or art - so seriously. It's only life, after all. It may even mirror the "senior six" throwing the beloved Teddy Bear over the cliff. A comedy that's also a profound philosophical joke? This is vintage Lars von Trier!