Plot Details: This opinion reveals major details about the movie's plot.
When Dancer in the Dark was released to mixed reviews in 2000, including its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, many critics scolded its filmmaker Lars von Trier for its depiction on America, especially since the plane-phobic Danish-born filmmaker has never been to the country. Despite that controversy, von Trier finally won the festival's top honor, the Golden Palm that year but was still getting flack for his image of American society. In response to the criticism, von Trier decided to make another trilogy on America entitled America-Land of Opportunities about three American towns. The first of the three films that premiered at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival and now released here in U.S. is Dogville.
Straying away from the melodramatic, stripped-down filmmaking of his previous trilogy that began with Breaking the Waves, culminated with the 2nd Dogme 95 film The Idiots, and ended with Dancer in the Dark. Lars von Trier went for a minimalistic setting in Dogville by replacing the digital-video handheld cameras of Dancer in the Dark for HDTV camera styles with the use of just the Sony HDW-F900 Video camera as well as filming the entire movie in a soundstage. The sets in the film are sparse as there's a camera on the soundstage roof looking above at the set where chalkboard diagrams of where the citizens of Dogville live and work.
Written and directed by von Trier, the film is about a young woman named Grace in 1930s Great Depression running away from the mob as she hides in a quiet town in the Rocky Mountains where she befriends the town's philosopher Tom Edison Jr. After a two-week trial of befriending the town's citizens, Grace lives in the place but as the search for intensifies, so does the town's good-hearted mood as it changes into ugliness with Grace becoming a slave as it leads for the mob to finally find her with an eerie ugliness.
Whereas in previous films by von Trier, the film has an experimental style like no other and in Dogville, von Trier stretches his own abilities for minimalism by making a three-hour film with nine chapters and a prologue that gives the film not just a storybook feeling but also the restrictive tone of play acting. Playing the role of Grace is Nicole Kidman who leads a rich ensemble cast that includes von Trier veterans Sioban Fallon Hogan, Stellan Skarsgard, Jean-Marc Barr, Udo Kier, and Zeljko Ivanek, as well as film veterans Phillip Baker Hall, James Caan, Lauren Bacall, and Ben Gazzara plus Paul Bettany, Jeremy Davies, Chloe Sevigny, Patricia Clarkson, Blair Brown, and narration by John Hurt. While not up to par with the brilliance of Breaking the Waves, Dogville is still a haunting, provocative masterpiece on contemporary American Society.
The film begins with a prologue in the quiet mining town in the Rocky Mountains of Dogville as philosopher Tom Edison (Paul Bettany) is droning on about his theories as he lives with his father Tom Sr. (Phillip Baker Hall). He would meet with several locals including housemaid Olivia (Cleo King) and her crippled sister June (Shauna Shim), as well as grouchy apple farmer Chuck (Stellan Skarsgard) and his wife Vera (Patricia Clarkson) and their seven children. He would stop by at the Henson house to play chess with his dimwitted childhood friend Bill (Jeremy Davies) and talking with Bill's parents (Blair Brown and Bill Raymond) as Liz Henson (Chloe Sevigny) is wondering when the town will get exciting. Even as Tom meets garage worker Ben (Zeljko Ivanek), church pastor Martha (Siobhan Fallon Hogan), storeowner Ma Ginger (Lauren Bacall), and store worker Gloria (Harriet Andersson), he wonders if the town will ever be this droll.
The first chapter begins when Tom hears gunshots and he sees a woman named Grace running away as she hides in the mines. A big car comes in as Tom talks to the driver (Jean-Marc Barr) and his passenger (Udo Kier) as they ask about a woman. Tom says he never saw her as he asks who’s in the back that turns out to be the Big Man (James Caan) who gives Tom a card. Grace continues to hide in the mines as Tom holds a meeting about Grace as the town gives a two-week trial to be liked whereas she'll stay and work with them. Grace starts to befriend the town's citizens including the blind Jack McKay (Ben Gazzara) as after two weeks, the fifteen adults including the often-grouchy Chuck lets her stay. Immediately, she becomes a beloved citizen of Dogville, as she would use her wages to buy a set of seven China figurines. She would help Bill improve his studies for engineering while helping Chuck and Vera’s son Jason (Miles Purinton) on his studies.
Tom falls for Grace immediately as Jack McKay finds himself happy with Grace as she tells him things he couldn't see. When a Fourth of July picnic arose, everything seem to be fine in Dogville but a cop comes in to post posters as Grace is wanted for a robbery attempt a couple of weeks earlier when she stayed in the place for a months. The mood becomes troubling as Grace decides to work for fewer wages and more time to help out the town. The mood gets troubling as Jason refuses to do his work and demands to be spanked as Grace does so he wouldn't tell Vera as the cops come in again where Chuck decide to hide her in his house and rapes her. The town's mood doesn't become the same.
Things get troubling as Vera and Liz confront Grace in her home as Vera asks her about Jason as Grace told her the truth. Vera is very upset and in response, she smashes the China figurines that Grace has cherished as for the first time in a long time, she is moved to tears. Grace finally has enough of the town as she decides to try and escape with help from Ben but during the trip, Ben has sex with her while they hide from the authorities but they end up back in Dogville. Accused of stealing money from Tom Sr., Grace is chained up to a wheel by her neck made by Bill as she is forced to become a slave not just for manual labor but also for also sexual pleasures for the men in the town.
Tom has had enough as he confesses about the theft while Vera learns the truth about Chuck which makes her even more meaner as the town's mood becomes darker. Finally after a meeting, they give Grace a break from her work as during one day when she returns to her work, the town sees a group of cars coming but doesn't arrive. Suddenly, the town knows its in danger as The Big Man finally arrives to meet with Grace as the fate of Dogville is in Grace's hands.
The film presentation of Dogville is clearly one of the most original ideas as the entire movie feels like a play with minimal settings, cars driving in and out of the soundstage while doors are being opened by mimic since there's no doors built, and a fake mountain near the edge of the set. In many respects, Lars von Trier has once again made his mark as a groundbreaking filmmaker by just stripping everything down to the essentials. With help from production designer Peter Grant and set decorator Simone Grau, the film's set plays up to Great Depression-era America as well as the costumes by Manon Rasmussen. The film has this strange look where in the day scenes, there's a white background surrounding and a black for night.
Even when there's weather, leaves, snow, and all sorts of things fall down just to give the film a strange, cinematic feel. Even the film's score from the compositions of Antonio Vivaldi plays up to the innocence of the town as well as its suspense and drama as the film's mood changes. Even in the film's final credits of pictures of American images of beauty and ugliness, comes a classic mid-1970s song that really makes things really disturbing.
With a dizzying, video look from cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle, the film has this strange, avant-garde tone to the film as von Trier also plays the role of camera operator as the film has not just a hand held feel. Also a TV-like production feels as if a play is being filmed. The real genius of the film is easily von Trier as he brings in a fluent, storytelling direction that is masterful as he doesn't even let the pacing of the film slow things down or make things fast, especially since the film is 3-hours long.
Even the film's screenplay is filled with brilliance as the story and characters starts off innocently and then evolves into something very ugly. Now for those who found the ending to Dancer in the Dark to be quite sadistic will find the ending in Dogville much more disturbing and ugly. At times, the characters can be sympathetic but as the story evolves, you're not sure who to feel sorry for or who had it coming and once the film ends, there's a huge surprise at what the result is.
What makes Dogville such a compelling film isn’t just how American society is back then but in relation to today's society. What von Trier does is provide all sorts of ambiguities and symbolism, particularly in the little things in the set like the China figurines that Grace cherishes and Ma Ginger's Gooseberry bushes. There's a fine line in the story at what goes on and when it comes to the ending, it comes with this sense of realization at not just what the people in Dogville are but to America as well. In many aspects, von Trier isn't trying to knock down American society but the politically incorrectness and restriction on what this country has become.
We're not the good guys anymore. The role of America has now become extremely confusing and what Dogville shows is how ugly American society has become, especially with the next part of the trilogy Manderlay as it examines slavery much further. On the level of controversy goes, Mel Gibson wins for the graphic violence on The Passion of the Christ but for ugliness and ambiguities and all sorts of ironies, von Trier wins the war while he does display violence in the film but it's not as graphic as you think.
If von Trier has had a great cast before in his previous films, he certainly topped them all with everyone in this film. You can never put a better ensemble cast as better as this. While the roles of Cleo King, Harriet Andersson, Shauna Shims, Jean-Marc Barr, and Udo Kier are small, they were all well-performed and fun to watch as Cleo King plays up to the mood of the African-American housemaid while overcoming the stereotype just as the film evolves since she ends up being treated like a equal. The roles of Chuck and Vera's children are well-performed, particularly Miles Purinton as Jason who probably gets his first S&M lesson from Nicole Kidman in one of the film's most hilarious scenes. While Blair Brown and Bill Raymond are well used as the Henson parents as well as Jeremy Davies as the dimwitted Bill is used, Chloe Sevigny stood out the most among the family as she tries to play up as a rival to Kidman's Grace for the affections of Tom Edison.
Siobhan Fallon Hogan and Zeljko Ivanek also does standout performances in their roles as well as the enigmatic Lauren Bacall as the wise Ma Ginger who ends up becoming a real mean lady to Grace. Stellan Skarsgard is excellent as the grouchy Chuck as he plays up in a very vulnerable role in earlier scenes with Grace as he shines in the rape scene where he reveals his huevos grandes. Phillip Baker Hall is also excellent in his role as Tom Sr. while Ben Gazzara is amazing as the blind Jack McKay, who too becomes a dirty old man.
Of the entire supporting cast, no one stood out better than Patricia Clarkson (who replaces the late Breaking the Waves actress Katrin Cartlidge, who the film was dedicated to) as Vera, who starts out very nice but once she gets mean, she is really mean as the current indie queen gives Kidman a lesson in indie meanness. James Caan, of course is brilliant in the film's final act as he meets with great with a surprise revelation as he doesn's come off as the classic mob criminal by just playing the role charismatically and with subtlety that is very surprising from the film legend.
Of the male cast, no one shines more than Paul Bettany. Bettany brings in an anguished, sympathetic performance as Grace's love interest while he comes up with all of these mindless theories. As the film develops, Bettany's Tom Edison might seem to be the most innocent of all characters but as the film ends, he's not what he seems as well. The narration of John Hurt of course is spoken very elegant as if he plays the lost citizen of Dogville as he watches everything through his own words and it's easily one of the best narrations ever heard in cinema.
The film's best performance overall goes to Nicole Kidman. For an actress of her prestige, fame, and achievements, the Oscar-winning Kidman has again proven herself as an adventurous actress. While many actresses like Halle Berry, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Julia Roberts, Cameron Diaz, and many top-notch Hollywood names chose to play it safe for box office success, Kidman trumps them all with her sprawling performance in Dogville. While Kidman doesn't mind bringing a performance where she degrades herself for everyone and restraining herself in a stage-like acting style, it's very clear that Kidman refuses to be pigeonholed into any role.
The real amazing thing about her is that she'll keep experimenting with big-budget Hollywood features and independent art-house films. Already working with auteur filmmakers like Stanley Kubrick, Gus Van Sant, and Jane Campion, Kidman proves herself to be an actress willing to take risks while continuing to have a wide-appeal audience (although I'm not sure if they'll want to see this) as she gives a performance that is harrowing and compelling.
Fans of modern-day, Hollywood cinema might want to take a chance to look at this although they'll have to watch this film with caution and the three-hour length. Overall, Dogville is clearly Lars von Trier's most daring effort to date as he continues to push the boundaries of filmmaking. Sadly, it's likely this film will be overlooked in favor of The Passion of the Christ since Dogville is far more experimental despite great performances from Nicole Kidman, Paul Bettany, and Patricia Clarkson.
In the end, Dogville will be one film you either love or hate and nothing in between. While it's an extremely important film with a presentation future filmmakers might follow, its one film that should be watched with caution for cinematic reasons. Lars von Trier's Dogville will surely bring furor over those who passionately feel about America when in truth; von Trier is just getting started with this trilogy of American society, at its most ugliness.
Grace arrives in the isolated town of Dogville, on the run from gangsters. The townspeople agree to hide her. However, when outsiders start looking fo...More at HotMovieSale.com
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