Though the element of fiction is far from dominant in Jørgen Leth's oeuvre, he has made two "fiction features," Interference (1983) and Traberg (1992). Both are set in Haïti and both revolve around a lost, searching male character. The protagonists vanish or are gradually ousted from the centre of the fiction, as the real world moves in with a violence and obsessive power that makes Haïti itself the true subject of both films. While Leth is hesitant, even noncommittal, about his lead characters' actions and ends, he never blinks when exploring the concrete reality of their chaotic surroundings. As Leth says, "My whole project and experiment was to make a kind of collapsible fiction I could take with me, letting my foreign correspondent's story play out in a series of concrete situations, where reality would be not just a setting but a living co-player." As an added bonus, this box set also contains Jørgen Leth and Per Kirkeby's 1979 TV-production of A Midsummer Night's Play (1979), an 1803 Danish Golden-Age classic by the Romantic poet Adam Oehlenschläger. Paying tribute to poetry, the production is faithful to the original text. Leth and Kirkeby present the play in tableau form, featuring the finest Danish actors of the day in a festive romp through Oehlenschläger's elaborate verse and metrics.
The films
Udenrigskorrespondenten / Interference - Denmark 1983 - Directed by: Jørgen Leth - Written by: Jørgen Leth, Klaus Rifbjerg - Photographed by: Alexander Gruszynski - Music by: Fuzzy - Cast: Henning Jensen, Hanne Uldal, François Latour, Jocasta Maspuda, Aubelin Jolicoeur - Produced by: HTM Film
Interview with Danish Filmmaker Jørgen Leth - Haiti 1982 - Directed and written by: Mario Delatour - Photographed by: Johnny Sandaire - With: Jørgen Leth
Interview med Henning Jensen / Interview with Henning Jensen - Denmark 2008 - Directed and written by: Lasse Jensen - Photographed by: Adam Philip - With: Henning Jensen - Produced by: Marianne Christensen
Traberg - Denmark 1992 - Directed and written by: Jørgen Leth - Photographed by: Dan Holmberg - Cast: Ebbe Traberg, Ambroise Thompson, Jean-Claude Disquemare, Pio Lindegaard - Produced by: Jøregn Leth Productions
The Yellow Jersey - Denmark 2008 - Directed and written by: Jørgen Leth - Photographed by: Steen Møller Rasmussen - Music by: Claus Hindberg Christensen - Produced by: Beofilm
Sanct Hansaften-Spil / A Midsummer Night's Playl - Denmark 1979 - Directed by: Jørgen Leth - Photographed by: Arne Jespersen, Svend Aage Madsen, Mogens Larsen - Music by: Emil Reesen, Henning Christensen - Cast: Martin Hansen, Ole Ernst, Paul Hagen, Elin Reimer, Helle Merete Sørensen - Produced by: Denmarks Radio
DVD features (3-disc DVD)
DVD 1
- Udenrigskorrespondenten 1983, 92'
- Interview with Danish Filmmaker Jørgen Leth 1982, 14'
- Interview med Henning Jensen 2008, 15'
DVD 2
- Traberg 1992, 93'
- The Yellow Jersey 1986, 14'
DVD 3
- Sanct Hansaften-Spil 1979, 98'
32-page booklet
Edited by: Danish Film Institute
DVD authoring: Electric Parc
DVD supervision: Dan Nissen, Thomas C. Christensen
