Dogville (2003)

The latest galvanizing and controversial film from Lars von Trier (Dancer in the Dark, Breaking the Waves, The Kingdom), Dogville uses ingenious theatricality to tell the Depression-era story of Grace (Nicole Kidman, The Others), a beautiful fugitive who stumbles onto a tiny town in the Rocky Mountains. Spurred on by Tom (Paul Bettany, Master and Commander), who fancies himself the town's moral guide, the citizens of Dogville first resist Grace, then embrace her, then resent and torment her--little realizing they will pay a price for their selfish brutality. The town is indicated by fragments of building and chalk outlines on a soundstage floor, stylishly pointing to the movie's roots in classic plays (particularly Thornton Wilder's Our Town and Friedrich Durrenmatt's The Visit). Several critics have stridently attacked Dogville as anti-American, but the movie's dark, compelling view applies as easily to Rwanda, Bosnia, the Middle East, or pretty much anywhere in the world. Also featuring Lauren Bacall, Patricia Clarkson, Jeremy Davies, Stellan Skarsgârd, Chloe Sevigny, and many more. --Bret Fetzer Amazon.com

Speechless

Perfect...
I did not "want" to watch the movie, I have read some reviews here (those reviews 1 star). However I was feeling that I need to watch and have my own opinion. Bought it and watched it.
I strongly disagree with the "bad" reviews.
This film is 5 star for sure. Now it is in my very particular list of BEST FILMS EVER. May 16, 2008

UNDER-RATED BUT SO STRONG

this movie is not your typical one
it takes place on a single chalk stage
and if you take a large step back from what movies "should be"
you will see what they really can be/. May 10, 2008

Nazi Movie (I'm Serious)

This movie is despicable. It's full of National Socialist ideology and I AM NOT KIDDING. Lars "von" Trier didn't get the nickname "von" from building model planes. The guy's buddies in college just couldn't get over his resemblance to certain bad-guys from old World War II movies.

What's horrifying about this monstrosity is how few people understand that this is pure, unrefined hate. Apparently, most folks just believe that Nazi's were about antisemitism and jazzy uniforms. Well, no. Adolf Hitler could have written this. "Mein Kampf" and "Dogville" have the same plot. A young person is ruthlessly exploited, but then turns on her(his) exploiters and has revenge.

I don't believe in censorship, but this movie should be required, by law, to have a warning label. The label should explain, in detail, what a National Socialist is and what it means to exploit revenge and hatred and rage. This movie should be shown to a wide audience, but only to educate them about the nature of the enemy, and how easy it is to be pulled-in by the appeal to raw emotion.

Make no mistake-- this film is propaganda. The sequel (Manderlay) is just as bad (but emphasizes the racism that always a part of Nazi ideology). See them both for an education in evil.

So... if you're wondering why this film hasn't been despised for what it is... just read the newspapers and watch FOX News and think for moment. As the man said, "What we have here is failure to communicate." Our society has failed to teach our children what Adolf Hitler and his pals sold to the German people. Now, when it's trotted out with a fresh coat of paint, nobody recognizes it--and that makes it dangerous. March 31, 2008

A Dog

"Dogville" is lost. They tried to do a Broadway style or live acting play on the bigscreen. Seeing this performance live might have worked for me as it's much easier to relate or engage with live on-stage actors. However, put them on film without any adjustments to acting or style, including little editing, and it gets boring fast.

In contrast, a related movie with this style, the Hitchcock movie "Rope", was successful by using very good camera work and lighting, more props, and extremely pronounced acting - almost over-emphasizing words and actions - that all transfered well to film. (Oh, the suspense helped engage the viewer too here.)

Dogville was an experiment in film making, it's minimalistic approach won't appeal to many, and they didn't get the stage acting to work well on film. The film is lost between stage acting style and film media style. March 2, 2008

Revelatory

I believe the general consensus towards this movie is very divisive. I've read very favourable reviews, as well as reviews which were harsh, to the point of making ad hominen attacks on the director. For myself, I was absolutely impressed by the movie on my first viewing about a year ago. I decided to get the DVD and watch it a second time, thinking that my views on the movie might change. They did not. I still consider the movie to be brilliant, revelatory and thought-provoking. February 9, 2008

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