Introduction: the manifesto
When the DOGMA 95 manifesto was published on March 13th 1995, the press reacted promptly and in different ways. In fact the manifesto had at least three features that would attract the press and make it discuss the formulas it contained: the title "Kyskhedsløftet" (The Vow of Chastity), the notion of DOGMA (that is, "dogma") with its religious connotations and, of course, the number ten referring to the Ten Commandments. The whole concept developed a certain catholic aura in the press during 1995. To this we should add that in current Danish, the word "Dogma" has a negative sense: it implies false ideas or a stereotype. Once again Trier had succeeded in provoking public opinion. The result was that, in the first year after the publication of DOGMA 95, the newspapers were somewhat bewildered. The Manifesto’s Vow of Chastity was treated as often as four times in the newspaper Politiken. Of course every one knew that it was a metaphor, but what were the implications of the metaphor? The catholic and clerical aura of Lars von Trier made the newspapers uneasy!
The corpus and the sampling
This text is based on articles from Politiken (108) and Ekstrabladet (45). The articles were all taken from Politiken’s database Polinfo and they all contain the words "film" and "Dogma" (in the sense of DOGMA 95).
This does not mean that the corpus is exhaustive in the case of articles on Vinterberg or Trier. In fact many articles about their films do not contain the word "Dogma"; in May – June 1998 there are several articles related to the Cannes Festival with no mention of the word "Dogma". On the other hand, only texts containing the words "film" and "Dogma" could be of certain interest for this issue of p.o.v.! From 1995 to June 1999 Extrabladet has 45 articles and Politiken 108. I have chosen summer 1999 as the limit. At that point, both the Berlin Festival (where Mifunes sidste sang or The Last Song of Mifune was awarded the "Silver Bear") and the Cannes Festival 1999 have finished.
Newspapers write about events. How does the press treat DOGMA 95, a subject which was, at least at first, rather far from being an event? How (that is, under what circumstances) could a manifesto be a "true" event? How (under what circumstances) can the production of a film be an event? How (under which circumstances) can a film be an event? How does the press play a role as distributor of cultural information? Is it at all concerned about cultural information?
Ekstrabladet and Politiken have been chosen because they represent two very different kinds of morning papers. The first is a popular newspaper, while Politiken is a big, national newspaper with more than hundred years of cultural information tradition. I have refrained from including the other kinds of newspapers, such as the one or two local newspapers or any of the small "parish magazines" in Copenhagen (Information, Kristelig Dagblad, Aktuelt).
Some simple questions have been addressed to each article in the two papers.
Which genre of article is used? Does it treat the notion of "Dogma" or the "film" or does it only mention one of them? Are the technical or the artistic aspects of the film (production) treated or mentioned? Are the economical aspects of the film (production) treated or mentioned? To what extent do historical aspects play a role? Does the text have a general nationalist approach?
Does the text have a general personal approach (human interest)? To this last question we might add two related questions. Is the film director treated, not as a director, but as an interesting private person? Is one of the actors treated, not as an actor, but as an interesting private person? Does the text have other approaches? However, I admit that the difference between "mentioning" and "treating" is in many cases subject to fluctuation!
The use of genres
EB
in %
Pol
in %
News and short notices
16
35.6
35
32.4
Reports
13
28.9
15
13.9
Comments and reviews
4
8.9
26
24.1
Interviews
3
6.7
16
14.8
Fictional genres
3
6.7
2
1.9
Other genres
6
13.3
14
13.0
Total number of texts
45
100.1
108
100.1
Figure I: The distribution of journalistic genres
The choice of genres is not accidental; it reflects the interests and the approaches of the newspapers to the subject "DOGMA". Simple news and factual information have almost the same weight for the two papers, but the journalistic stories have an enormous importance for Ekstrabladet. In their reports the reader is taken by the hand and introduced by the paper to the strange world of the directors. What are they like? What do they do? How do they live? How was life in Cannes 1998 for the Danes? Etc., etc.
Commentary constitutes the genre of analysis and reflection. No wonder Politiken has three times as much as the popular paper, since the analysis of the "Dogma" concept can only be treated in comments and related genres. It might seem strange that Ekstrabladet has so few interviews, but it should be remembered that an interview, in the proper sense of the word, demands a very thorough preparation and a rather large knowledge of the subject matter, both on the part of the journalist and the reader. What happens is that Ekstrabladet’s reports are filled up with short (factual) interviews, which fit into the human interest stories best expressed within reports.
The conclusion is that Ekstrabladet uses, in the case of "DOGMA", the same genres as it uses for telling news, which means that Ekstrabladet is (only) interested in "DOGMA" inasmuch as the "Dogma" phenomenon can be presented as news. Politiken is interested in "Dogma" as principle and as film.
The concept of "Dogma" and the "films" as such
The words "Dogma" and "film" are always represented in the texts, but their use is very different from text to text. You may, albeit with some difficulty and with some very loose criteria, divide the texts into two groups: the ones which treat or discuss the concept or the films (or both) and those which merely mention "Dogma". In 1995 Politiken does discuss the notion and later, especially in 1998 and ‘99 this newspaper reviews the film. Ekstrabladet does not even mention DOGMA 95 until the end of the year. (The corpus has only one article from this year, the 20th December.) Later Ekstrabladet presents some reviews of the film (abstracts of the content, never an analysis). Especially after 1998 "DOGMA" appears as a reference, or a back-
Newspaper
Year
Treated
Mentioned
1995 - 1997
1
13
Ekstrabladet
1998
11
9
1999
6
5
Total number
17
28
In percent
37.8
62.2
1995
8
3
Politiken
1996
2
7
1997
6
8
1998
20
19
1999
14
21
Total number
50
58
In percent
46.3
53.7
Figure II: "Dogma" and "films" treated or mentioned
ground theme occurring in a discussion about films (notably cheap films!) other than "Dogma" films. This is very clear in Politiken. The most thorough article in Politiken about DOGMA is Mogens Rukov’s commentary on DOGMA (23rd March 1995) and in the same issue Preben Hornung’s ironic article where the 7th commandment is extended in such a way that it orders the directors to obey the classical dramatic units of time, space and action!
Artistic or technical aspects of the films or of the film production
40% of the articles in Ekstrabladet and 36.1% of those in Politiken present or mention the artistic and/or the technical aspects of the film (production).
Newspaper
Year
Treated
Mentioned
1995 - 1997
1
4
Ekstrabladet
1998
6
5
1999
1
1
Total number
8
10
In percent
40.0
1995
7
Politiken
1996
1
1997
1
1
1998
5
5
1999
9
6
Total number
23
12
In percent
32.4
Figure III: Articles treating or mentioning the artistic and/or the technical aspects of film (production)
It is very difficult to evaluate such small numbers, but two things are certain: In the beginning (1995), Politiken writes about the production principles that are the (theoretical) consequences of the "Dogma" principles, and in 1998 and 1999 Politiken writes about the production aspects of the films. Ekstrabladet is very keen to do the same in 1998, the year of Vinterberg’s triumph. Just why Ekstrabladet and Politiken diverge in 1999 is not clear to me!
The economic aspects
The economic aspects are rather few; the heavy articles covering the economics of film production are not concerned about DOGMA. Late 1997 Politiken had a very thorough series of articles about the economy and the administration of Zentropa. None of these articles figure in the corpus. In the case of both Politiken and Ekstrabladet, the economical aspects pop up in the news articles at the time when Jytte Hilden did not succeed in giving 15 millions of Danish crowns to the DOGMA project and when
Newspaper
Year
Treated
Mentioned
1995 - 1997
5
Ekstrabladet
1998
1
1999
Total number
6
1
In percent
15.5
1995
2
Politiken
1996
4
1997
3
2
1998
1
2
1999
3
1
Total number
13
5
In percent
16.7
Figure IV: Articles treating or mentioning the economic aspects
Bjørn Erichsen, director of DR television, saved the project. The actions of these two persons, or better personalities, constitute genuine events for press reporting.
Historical aspects
Many news articles contain a historical dimension, the reader is updated or gets a reminder. This historical update is one of van Dijks superstructure categories. Here the two newspapers diverge. Ekstrabladet seems to feel the need for updating the readers who may not have a very extended knowledge of the history of DOGMA. The history category was a necessity in the articles from Cannes or in the articles from 1997 about the production of the first two films.
Newspaper
Year
Treated
Mentioned
1995 - 1997
7
5
Ekstrabladet
1998
5
3
1999
2
Total number
12
10
In percent
48.9
1995
Politiken
1996
2
1997
4
1
1998
8
1999
2
5
Total number
14
8
In percent
20.4
Figure V: Articles treating or mentioning historical aspects
The national approach
The national approach can be expressed in many ways; one single word may start a whole chain of national, or even nationalistic, associations. Here puns or jokes are common in this register, such as "Dogmevang", which is of course a transformation of "Dannevang" (old poetic or humorous variant of Denmark). Thus it implies that "Dogma" is Danish, a part of the national splendor, but even worse, DOGMA means small, cheap, but intelligent film production. DOGMA is well known throughout the world, which fits too well into the national Danish syndrome. "How can you be the best even if you are small?" and "We are the best, because…" In a way it is astonishing that the national approach is not used so much in the articles, but it is not astonishing that the sensationalist and nationalist Ekstrabladet has more nationalistic approaches than has Politiken.
Newspaper
Year
Dominant
Marginal
1995 - 1997
1
1
Ekstrabladet
1998
3
3
1999
6
Total number
10
4
In percent
31.1
1995
2
Politiken
1996
1
1997
1998
2
1999
4
Total number
7
2
In percent
8.3
Figure VI: Distribution of dominant and marginal nationalistic approaches
On the whole, both Ekstrabladet and Politiken have more references to nation in 1999 than in 1998. At first this might be surprising. Vinterberg’s triumph in Cannes is, whatever our opinions about the Cannes and Berlin festivals might be, a bigger media event than Søren Kragh Jakobsen’s prize in Berlin. Nevertheless "the conquest of Cannes" seems to us to be nonsense, whereas the "conquest of Berlin" makes dramatic sense, since we are still looking for revenge on the Germans: the conquest of Berlin is furthered by "First we take Manhattan, then we…" So the year 1999 brought us the expression "Dogme über alles"!
The nationalist approach of Ekstrabladet takes various paths, but mostly by using expressions that look very much like the ones used in articles (reports) on sport: "This is one of these evenings where it feels good to be a Dane in Cannes" (Ekstrabladet 19.05.1998).
The whole national syndrome evident in the article from 13.02.1999. Here the "cheap, small Danish love story" (Søren Kragh Jakobsen’s film Mifune's Last Stand) is opposed to the "big boys" (the big American films), "against these giants stands the Danish love film from Lolland" (a very flat island in the southern part of Denmark), "and against the American world stars stands a group of Danish film makers and actors who, the day before, looked pretty Danish in the lobby of the luxurious hotel Intercontinental". (So we don’t look rich and international?). DOGMA has been absorbed by Ekstrabladet's national discourse, that relies in many ways on Danish texts and ideologies from the middle of the 19th Century!
The personal touch, the human interest
For years, Lars von Trier has been an enigmatic person, who perfectly knows how to manage his own phobias, while his administrative director Peter Aalbæk Jensen knows how to use the press even better. The two form a classic couple; one is small, introverted, wired, the other is fat, brash, extrovert and smokes big cigars. Vinterberg looks like a film star. So for years everything has been prepared for the press. The good stories are already there and Ekstrabladet is delighted! Why waste your time on research about specific film procedures (boring stuff and stories), when the persons Trier and Aalbæk furnish the good anecdotes? The story about Trier’s misfortune when he arrives at the hotel in Cannes (1998). (The hotel rejects a guest who arrives in a motor caravan.) We get the endless descriptions from Aalbæk, who gives them more weight than the subject about which the administrator is interviewed.
Newspaper
Year
Dominant
Marginal
1995 - 1997
11
2
Ekstrabladet
1998
14
1999
6
1
Total number
31
3
In percent
75.5
1995
1
Politiken
1996
3
1997
2
1
1998
3
1999
3
4
Total number
12
5
In percent
15.7
Figure VII: Distribution of dominant and marginal personal approaches
The 28th April 1996 issue of Ekstrabladet has an article on Lars von Trier in honor of his 40th birthday. The article begins by presenting some aspects of Trier’s character. Then it continue: "These are only some of the points of the long list of facts about Trier. But instead of getting mixed up in a long, boring intellectual analysis of this man, we will ask some people, who have worked with Trier to express their opinion about the man." There follows a mosaic of anecdotal descriptions.
As for Aalbæk, his cigars and his facial and other expressions are common in Ekstrabladet. In a newspaper article from the 11th. February 1997 Aalbæk is interviewed by telephone about the 15 million crowns project: "You can almost hear both his smile and his cigar through the telephone when he continues…", and on the third of June, Aalbæk "sighs heavily".
Thus Politiken and Ekstrabladet diverge fundamentally at this point. Journalism is human interest for Ekstrabladet. Politiken is far behind in this respect, and most of the human interest stuff is confined to the interviews, a genre that combines human interest with subject matter information.
This tendency is confirmed if we look at the articles treating the film directors or the actors. Ekstrabladet has 24 articles (53.3% of all articles) where the director appears also as a person (and not only as director of the film). Politiken has only 27 articles of this kind, 25% of all articles. As for the actors of the films being treated as persons (with or without their role as actors), Ekstrabladet has 12 articles (26.7%) and Politiken 10 articles (9.3%).
Conclusion
As for the central question, "What was DOGMA 95 like and how were the films treated?", the answer is that Politiken gives us to some extent reliable information and useful analyses about both. Ekstrabladet is not interested in DOGMA 95 as such and, as for the films, Ekstrabladet gives us mostly a résumé. As we have seen, Ekstrabladet dislikes intellectual analyses because they are boring.
As for the technical or the artistic aspects of the film (production), it is difficult to conclude. As we have seen Politiken describes in the beginning the technical and artistic/aesthetic aspects of DOGMA 95. Later both newspapers present articles describing the production of all three films.
Ekstrabladet is clearly distinct from Politiken in its emphasis of the human interest story that takes over (often in the shape of Peter Aalbæk) when the factual information on the "film" and DOGMA 95 does not fit into Ekstrabladet’s image of the interests of its readers.
DOGMA 95 does not escape the nationalist temptation, especially in Ekstrabladet. The story about how the little cheap/poor Danish film was able to beat the international or the Hollywood monsters underlies several articles. Ekstrabladet uses the same language that it used in June 1992 when Denmark became European champion of soccer.
Should we conclude that almost all of the 153 articles are a failure and that the press is unable to fulfil its functions, because especially Ekstrabladet is not very keen on cultural information? Not at all. Trier and Vinterberg made a manifesto in order to clear the ground for a new film production, the press did spread the message, and the whole nation (and some people in foreign countries) listened. Even the readers of Ekstrabladet, those who dislike intellectual analyses, learned that DOGMA was interesting and valuable. In fact, it would even have been a mistake to have exposed these readers to intellectual texts. They would not have read them.
Trier has often been criticized for having made the manifesto as a gimmick! Yes, maybe, but it attracted the press. Without the press and general public opinion, Jytte Hilden would not have tried to give the 15 million crown check to DOGMA. Without the press there would have been no discussion about the quarrel between Trier and the Danish Film Institute. Without this discussion DR television could not have intervened. Without this intervention there would have been no Feast.
The press did not conceive DOGMA, but it was a mighty midwife.
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