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Dogville (2004)
Director:
Lars Von Trier
Genre:
Drama
Studio:
Lions Gate Films
For more information, head to Movies.com.
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Lars Von Trier is most well known for founding the purist Dogme film movement.
While Dogville breaks from the tradition, below is a list of the ten commandments in the group's "vow of chastity."
1. Shooting must be done on location.
2. The sound must never be produced apart from the images or vice versa.
3. The camera must be hand-held.
4. The film must be in colour. Special lighting is not acceptable.
5. Optical work and filters are forbidden.
6. The film must not contain superficial action.
7. Temporal and geographical alienation are forbidden.
8. Genre movies are not acceptable.
9. The film format must be Academy 35 mm.
10. The director must not be credited.
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Part "American Tragedy," part "Barry Lyndon" and part unabashed sadism, Lars Von Trier's "Dogville" is a daring, intriguing and ultimately brutal film. It begs to be viewed and examined, no matter how difficult and exhausting it can be to watch.
The film is based in a small town in the Rocky Mountains, which Von Trier picked because he thought it sounded like something from a fairy tale (of course they're rocky, they're mountains!). The plot surrounds Grace (Nicole Kidman) a fugitive from the law and her past who comes to town escaping a rain of gunfire. In order to be taken in and protected by the townspeople, she must prove herself worthy of their trust through consistent hard work, honesty, and a series of increasingly degrading tasks.
The rather straightforward sounding parable (narrated by John Hurt) is set in one of the most formally challenging backdrops imaginable.
Von Trier acts out his cineplay in a warehouse, with chalk outlines and brilliantly minimal set pieces serving as the structure for the town. The church, for example, is denoted only by a steeple suspended from the ceiling. Homes might have one door or a window, or perhaps nothing save the chalk to signify their structure. Even the town's dog, which plays a pivotal part in the plot development, is nothing but a drawing.
All of this sounds utterly preposterous, and, at first, the sight of a character miming open a door bodes badly for the action to come. As the story progresses, though, the ability to view the actions and reactions of characters within their homes at all times becomes an interesting piece of subtext that influences the audience's perception of the story.
The set is masterfully constructed, with what minimal pieces there are serving as critical symbolic focal points for the action and dialogue within the film. Like reading subtitles or following the overlapping audio tracks in a Mike Figgis movie (i.e. "Time Code" or "Hotel"), you get used to the idea and quickly forget that your perception has been altered whatsoever.
Von Trier has long specialized in this kind of rabidly unconventional filmmaking. One of the founders of the much maligned "Dogme" movement (which eschewed the use of artificial sets, soundtracks, costuming and reportedly toothbrushing), the director has received both critical acclaim and vehement opposition for films like "Europa," "Breaking the Waves," "The Idiots," and Palm D'Or winner "Dancer in the Dark."
Like "Dancer in the Dark," "Dogville" creates a powerfully inescapable sense of emotional immediacy, developing an almost claustrophobic sense of fear and hatred as Kidman’s Grace eventually gets used and abused in all manner of reprehensible ways by the people of Dogville.
Drawing on a cast of immensely talented actors from several generations (Lauren Bacall, Ben Gazarra, Patricia Clarkson, Paul Bettany, James Caan, Chloe Sevigny, Jeremy Davies), Von Trier paints a gritty, realistic portrait of a town of desperate and lonely people hiding pain and anger behind a veil of moral rectitude.
In the Dogme Manifesto's "Vow of Chastity," Von Trier famously promised to "force the truth out of characters and settings...by all the means available and at the cost of any good taste and any aesthetic considerations."
While Von Trier has long since abandoned many other tenets of the Manifesto, to this dedication he remains true. As such, the film clocks in at a whopping three hours and features some material that is, to say the least, difficult to stomach.
For any true film fan, though, this is an absolute must-see. Von Trier continues to divide audiences the world over with a filmmaking style that some see as brilliant and challenging, others as pretentious, even abusive. Love him or hate him, it's nearly impossible to watch "Dogville" without coming away with some sort of distinctly passionate reaction.
In my book, that's what film should be about.
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Written by Richard Sharp
Review Date: March 26, 2004
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