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Alex Garland's Civil War (2024)

4/16/2016

Dogville (2003) - Von Trier's implacable, truly unique drama



+ Best Big Flop Movie of the Year + Best Danish Movie of the Year + Best Ensemble of the Year: Nicole Kidman, Ben Gazzara, James Caan, Lauren Bacall, Harriet Andersson, Chloë Sevigny, Patricia Clarkson, Paul Bettany, Stellen Skarsgård, Zeljko Ivanek + Best Epic of the Year + Best Experimental Movie of the Year


Nicole Kidman as Grace and the residents of Lars Von Trier's Dogville on its poster


QUICK REVIEW:

A lady in distress, on the run from mobsters, appears in the small Colorado mountain town of Dogville in America in the 1930s, where the town's aspiring writer Tom gets the townspeople to show mercy and take in the stranger.

Dogville is the 8th feature from Danish master filmmaker Lars Von Trier (Breaking the Waves (1996)), who both wrote and directed it. Half of the awe-inspiring work that is Dogville is Trier's disturbing script, (which Quentin Tarantino has said would have won the Pulitzer Prize, if it had been written for the stage instead of the screen), and the film's unique stage concept; the film takes place in a small town which is not physically created but merely marked by chalk lines on a dark stage. The other half is the combined force of an ensemble that could be among the decade's best:
Ben Gazzara (Anatomy of a Murder (1959)), Nicole Kidman (The Hours (2002)), James Caan (Misery (1990)), Lauren Bacall (The Big Sleep (1946)), Harriet Andersson (Cries & Whispers/Viskningar och Rop (1972)), Chloë Sevigny (Boys Don't Cry (1999)), Patricia Clarkson (Six Feet Under (2002-05)), Paul Bettany (The Tourist (2010)), Stellan Skarsgård (Breaking the Waves) and Zeljko Ivanek (Oz (1997-03)) are all simply grand.
The ending is strong and hard to come to terms with, which is not meant as a criticism.
The only reservation I do have regarding Dogville is that it has too much narration. For a film as long as this, it simply becomes too dense.

 Related reviews:

Lars Von Trier:  Nymphomaniac (2013) short version, vol. 1 & vol. 2, or, Lars Von Trier's Suck It
Melancholia (2011) - Von Trier's heightened reality doomsday reflections 
Antichrist (2009) - Von Trier's cabin-in-the-woods psycho-horror 

The Boss of It All/Direktøren for det Hele (2006) - Von Trier's hilarious absurd comedy 
Dear Wendy (2005) - Vinterberg and Von Trier's unpopular, gun-themed megaflop (writer)  

2003 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II] 

2003 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

Dancer in the Dark (2000) or, Selma the Immigrant  


Lars Von Trier's Dogville as seen from above


Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 10 mil. $
Box office: 16.6 mil. $
= Big flop
[Dogville premiered May 19 (Cannes) and runs 178 minutes. It is the first of a proposed America: Land of Opportunities trilogy, which also includes Manderlay (2005) and Washington, which hasn't been made. The film was shot digitally on a stage in Trollhättan, Sweden and was a co-production between no less than 9 European countries. Trier has since revealed that he wrote the script for Dogville in a 12 day drug binge, although the truthfulness of that statement shouldn't be taken for granted. More or less outrageous stories about the film's production abounds, and some can be read here. Dogville competed in Cannes but lost to Gus Van Sant's masterpiece Elephant. Dogville had a limited run in North America, where it opened #41 with 88k $ and grossed 1.5 mil. $ (9 % of the total gross). Its biggest markets were Italy with 3.2 mil. $ (19.3 %), France with 2.1 mil. $ (12.7 %) and Germany with 2 mil. $ (12 %). In Trier's native Denmark, the film made a fine 1.2 mil. $ (7.2 %). Mostly American critics were offended by the fact that the film is obviously made by a filmmaker who is critical of the US, but others have hailed it as a great film. It is included on several top 10 lists of the year, and several critics and filmmakers also believe it to be among the best films ever made. It was nominated for 4 European Film Awards, winning Best Cinematography for Anthony Dod Mantle. It won Best Danish Film at the Bodil Awards (Danish critics awards), and Best Costume Design and Screenplay at the Robert Awards (Danish Oscar). Dogville is fresh at 70 % with a 6.9 critical average on Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Dogville?

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