The Five Obstructions

Not a book, but going in here nonetheless. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this movie by Lars von Trier (and Jorgen Leth). It's a little bit documentary, a little bit film theory, a little bit sadism, and a healthy dose of creativity under pressure. von Trier has Leth remake the latter's 1967 film The Perfect Human (which is a fun film in and of itself, and available in its entirety as a special feature on the dvd) four times, each time adding an "obstruction," one or more rules that Leth must follow. The resulting efforts are recognizable as children of the first film, but depart from it in extraordinary ways. Watching von Trier try to trip up Leth is its own drama. von Trier is a leading voice in the
Dogme 95 movement which aims to reestablish the purity of filmmaking through its own obstructions:

The essence of Dogme95 is to challenge the conventional film language – in order to make authentic films, in search of the truth. This implicates cutting out the usual aesthetic means of adding sound, light, make up, “ mise en scene”.

(One could argue that these are their own artificialities, but nevermind that here.) While Leth isn't beholden to these rules, the idea of getting at something true through imposed hardship is certainly a theme recurrent in von Trier's actions.

In short, fascinating to watch and really rather witty.