Det Perfekte Menneske (The Perfect Human) is the 1967 short film by Danish filmmaker Jørgen Leth. Though it’s one of Leth’s first, it seems to be the film for which he is most well known. Unfortunately there are no subtitles in the only full version I could find online so for those of you that don’t understand Danish the most wonderful line that you should know is, “Also, today I experienced something that I hope to understand in a few days.”
I’ll admit, I first discovered this film through De Fem benspænd (The Five Obstructions), released in 2003. In this film, Lars von Trier challenges Leth to not only revisit but also recreate The Perfect Human in five different ways. I’ve heard mixed reviews about this film - the negative responses are often from people who believe it was an insult to Leth to ask him take part in such a game - but I thought it was interesting to see a film classic reconsidered.
Here is the first of the five obstructions, The Perfect Human: Cuba. As you’ll notice, one of the limitations was that the film could only use 12 frames per shot.
Decide for yourself. And do watch these films at higher quality if you can. I believe The Five Obstructions DVD comes with the full-length version of The Perfect Human as an extra.