The Boss of it All

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An entertaining comedy from the ever-inventive Lars von Trier.
Ravn is owner/manager of a Danish IT company, but has been hiding behind a fictitious company president (Svend, aka The Boss of it All) who carries the can for all the unpopular decisions that have to be made. When Ravn decides to sell the company to Finnur, a volatile Icelander who insists on dealing only with the company president, Ravn hires an actor to take on the role of Svend for a day.
Although Svend assigns power of attorney to Ravn to complete the deal, Finnur declares in accordance with ancient Icelandic writings, that to deal with someone holding power of attorney is to deal with a nobody, so Svend must maintain the pretence for a few more days.
Before concluding the sale, Svend gets to meet the staff, who hold diverse views of their new boss as a result of emails sent by Ravn on his behalf over the past years. Thus Svend finds he has to deal with the consequences of a marriage proposal made to a subordinate, disputing with another the humidity of the autumn season (a surprisingly contentious topic), and portraying himself as gay to another.

The pretence of being Boss of it All inevitably begins to show signs of strain, and eventually unravels in the final meeting with Finnur, who upon discovering Ravn’s deception (and the consequent worthless power of attorney conferred by Svend) manages to dredge up another ancient Icelandic writing which advises that dealing with someone who does not hold power of attorney is to deal with a nobody. Hence Svend is left to make the final decision regarding the sale of the company.

Something for everyone. Essential viewing.

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