Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!: Dogville (2003) - Von Trier's implacable, truly unique drama

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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Donald Sutherland has passed away

Born in Canada, Sutherland battled polio as a child. His first credit was in Suspense (1963, TV-series) and his first film was The Castle of the Living Dead (1964). Later credits in his remarkable career include The Saint (1965-66), The Dirty Dozen (1967), M*A*S*H (1970), Kelly's Heroes (1970), Klute (1971), Don't Look Now (1973), 1900 (1976), Casanova (1976), The Eagle Has Landed (1976), Ordinary People (1980), A Dry White Season (1989), JFK (1991), Outbreak (1995), Fallen (1998), Virus (1999), Fierce People (2005), Pride & Prejudice (2005), Lord of War (2005), The Hunger Games (2012), The Undoing (2020, miniseries) and many more. He passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Roger Corman has passed away

Born in Detroit, Michigan, Corman had a sprawling, intellectually hungry life as a youth and young man before arriving with his first film in 1955, Five Guns West. He would follow that with titles such as Apache Woman, It Conquered the World, Attack of the Crab Monsters, Teenage Cave Man, A Bucket of Blood, House of Usher, The Little Shop of Horrors, The Pit and the Pendulum, The Intruder, The Raven, The Terror, The Masque of Red Death, The Tomb of Ligeia, The Wild Angels, The Trip, Bloody Mama and many more. As a producer he was behind almost 500 films. Arguably among the most important filmmakers of the 20th century, Corman passed away at age 98. R.I.P.

William Friedkin has died

Born in Chicago, Friedkin accrued TV credits prior to his advance to the big screen as the director of Good TImes (1967), The Birthday Party (1968), The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968) and The Boys in the Band (1970) before his major breakthrough, The French Connection (1971), for which he won his only Oscar. He followed it up with the even bigger smash, The Exorcist (1973), arguably the best horror film of all time, for which he was Oscar-nominated. Later credits include Sorcerer (1977), Cruising (1980), To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), Rampage (1987), Rules of Engagement (2000), Killer Joe (2011) and The Devil and Father Amorth (2017, documentary). Friedkin passed away at age 87. R.I.P.

Louise Fletcher has passed away

Born in Alabama to deaf parents, Fletcher got her first credits in late-1950s TV-series.She took a 10 year-long sabbatical to devote her time to motherhood after the release of A Gathering of Eagles, but then came back and soon saw her career's most important part, as Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), for which she won her sole Oscar. Later credits include Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), The Lucky Star (1980), Brainstorm (1983), Two Moon Junction (1988), Cruel Intentions (1999), A Perfect Man (2013) and many more. Fletcher passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Jean-Luc Godard has passed away

Born in Paris, France, Godard lived much of his life in Switzerland. He wrote for French film criticism magazine Cahiers du Cinema and became foundational for the New French Wave that inspired new waves in scores of other countries across the world with his Breathless (1960). Later credits include A Woman Is A Woman (1961), Vivre Sa Vie (1962), Le Petit Soldat (1962), Contempt (1963), Alphaville (1965), Pierrot le Fou (1965), 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her (1967), Weekend (1967), Every Man for Himself (1980), King Lear (1987), Century of Cinema (1995, documentary), Goodbye to Language (2014) and many more. Godard died of assisted suicide at age 91. R.I.P.

Wolfgang Petersen has died

James Caan has died

Caan was born the son of Jewish immigrants from Germany in New York. He got his start on TV in the early 1960s. His credits include El Dorado (1966), The Rain People (1969), Brian's Song (1971, TV movie), The Godfather (1972), - for which he earned his only Oscar nomination, - Slither (1973), The Gambler (1974), Funny Lady (1975), Rollerball (1975), Silent Movie (1976), Hide in Plain Sight (1980), - the only film he also directed, - Thief (1981), Misery (1990), Honeymoon in Vegas (1992), Bottle Rocket (1996), Eraser (1996), Dogville (2003), Elf (2003), Las Vegas (2003-07), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) and many more. Caan passed away at age 82. R.I.P.

Jean-Louis Trintignant has died

Born in Vaucluse, France, Trintignant's theatrical debut as an actor was in If All the Guys in the World... (1955). Later credits include ...And God Created Woman (1956), The Seven Deadly Sins (1961), Inferno (1964), A Man and A Woman (1966), My Love, My Love (1967), A Man to Kill (1967), The Great Silence (1968), Z (1969), The Assassination (1972), Three Colors: Red (1994), Amour (2012), Happy End (2017) and many more. He also wrote and directed two films in the 1970s. Trintignant passed away at age 91. R.I.P.

Ray Liotta has died

Adopted from an orphenage at a young age, Liotta got hooked on acting in high school. He had various TV credits in the late 1970s and early 80s, with his film debut in The Lonely Lady (1983). Later credits include Something Wild (1986), Field of Dreams (1989), Goodfellas (1990), Cop Land (1997), Hannibal (2001), Blow (2001), Narc (2002), John Q (2002), Identity (2003), Observe and Report (2009), Youth in Revolt (2009), The Details (2011), Killing THem Softly (2012), The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), Shades of Blue (2016-18), The Simpsons (2018, TV-series), Marriage Story (2019), The Many Saints of Newark (2021), Black Bird (2022, TV-series) and many more. Liotta passed away at age 67 in his sleep while on production in the Dominican Republic. R.I.P.

Philip Baker Hall has died

Born in Ohio, Hall didn't start acting until he was 30. His long list of credits include Zabriskie Point (1970), Miami Vice (1987, TV-series), Midnight Run (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Cheers (1993, TV-series), Hard Eight (1996), The Rock (1996), Air Force One (1997), Boogie Nights (1997), Seinfeld (1991-98), Rush Hour (1998), The Insider (1999), Magnolia (1999), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Bruce Almighty (2003), Dogville (2003), The Zodiac (2005), Zodiac (2007), Curb Your Enthusiasm (2004-09), Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011), Modern Family (2011-12) and many more. Hall passed away at age 90. R.I.P.

Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!

Eagerly anticipating this week ... (15-24)

4/16/2016

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

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

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

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