The Perfect Human

The Perfect Human is a thirteen-minute, standalone short film written by the Danish director Jørgen Leth. The film is about a couple who are analyzed by a third-person narrator as they perform basic functions such as dressing, walking, jumping, and eating. They are described as the perfect humans, and live in a spotless, boundless white room. Leth’s use of cinematography mirrors theory put forth by scholars such as Maya Deren, who advocates for breaking rules in order to create new and original films.

In her work and theory, the Ukrainian/American film maker Maya Deren challenges traditional cinematographic rules, such having establishing shots and continuity of camera work. In The Perfect Human, Leth breaks these rules to tell his narrative about how odd and imperfect humans are. Given the environment the film takes place in, there can be no establishing shot. The white, boundless room fails to give any reference for the human’s existence. This helps Leth focus on the humans more intensely because they are the only thing that exists on the screen. Additionally, having no setting allows him to move the camera to any angle, allowing him to capture details of the humans without disorientating the audience. In terms of camera shots and movement, Leth uses frequent jump cuts to highlight the peculiarity of the human body. For example, in one scene the camera cuts from an extreme close up of an ear, to a zoom shot of a knee, then foot, then an extreme close up of another ear, this time of a different actor. These jump cuts challenge the typical continuity of camera shots that would be seen in more mainstream film and help Leth highlight and explore the peculiarity of each of these individual body parts that are taken for granted.

Deren also advocated for breaking typical rules of time and reality, and to never “sacrifice” the aim of the film to “a stream of words” and “the relentless activity and explanations of a plot” (Essential Deren, 17). In The Perfect Human, Leth forgoes the typical linear plot and instead uses repetition and unusual dialogue to also tell his narrative about how odd and imperfect humans are. In the short film, there is no obvious, overarching plot. In fact, Leth reuses lines and camera shots in the film’s timeline, mostly when directing the audience to look intently and question the “perfect human.” By doing this, Leth extends time and creates a non-linear time frame. Additionally, the only words spoken by an actor are about “fleeting joy” and experiencing something he does not understand, with both sets of lines being repeated multiple times throughout the film. By breaking normal cinematic conventions and having the main actors speak only a few lines, Leth increases the importance of these few words. In particular, he draws attention to how the “perfect human” is feeling negative emotions and is uncertain, which helps Leth tell his narrative about how imperfect humans are.

Ultimately, the unconventional setting, dialogue, time structure, and camera shots allowed Leth the freedom to draw attention to critical details in his film and tell his story in a way that he would not have if he did not challenge traditional cinema.

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