Fictional Truth: Use of Documentary Style to Create Truthfulness in Fiction films

Abstract

This thesis examines the influence of documentary style on the truthfulness of two fiction films of the late 90s – The Celebration (1998) of Danish director Thomas Vinterberg and Rosetta (1999) or Belgian brothers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne. These two films can be explored through their amount of realism in various form, whether realism is their specified goal or not. To shed light on the realistic tendencies of these films they will be analysed trough story content, acting, directing, cinematography, mise-en-scène, location choices, budget size, sound and editing. In addition, it is important to look at the chief points of the technological developments in documentary films and important earlier cinema movements to which these films share a resemblance. The Celebration was the first result of a movement, Dogma95, announced 3 years prior to the film’s release. Rosetta is a product of ‘Dardennian’ style developed from the directors’ move from documentary to fiction. Both films will be analysed through their dedication to their respective movements, Dogma and ‘Dardennian’ style, and both the films and the movements in accordance with documentary tradition.