Dogville
Reviews
John Chard
Rapists and murders may be the victims according to you, but I, I call them dogs. And if they're lapping up their own vomit, the only way to stop them is with a lash. A sparse soundstage is stylishly utilized to create a minimalist small-town setting in which a mysterious woman named Grace (Nicole Kidman) hides from the criminals who pursue her. The town locals at first decide to shield Grace, and in return she openly works labour tasks for them to work off her gratitude. It's not long, however, before the residents of Dogville begin to show their true teeth... One thing is an absolute, Lars Von Trier knows how to push the buttons of critics and movie lovers alike. Dogville proved to be a case in point, a film that saw some high profile film critics renounce the director as anti American - even anti human, while others lauded the "Great Dane" as a visionary and a director of bravura panache. The point is, and it's a fact, there is no guarantee that Dogville will hit the spot of every first time viewer venturing in for the challenge. As it happens, I'm very much in the plus camp here, to me it's not only brave in style of production, but also it's narratively as caustic as anything so called "anti human" directors like Kubrick, Godard etc ever produced. The bareness of the sound stage setting, where we can see the workings of all residents of Dogville going about their respective business, very much shows there is no hiding place, all the bile strewn movements/ignorance is laid bare for all to see, we are all complicit. There's an outstanding cast assembled, fronted by Kidman (never more beautiful and never better as an actress), with support coming from Paul Bettany, Stellan Skarsgård, Lauren Bacall, Ben Gazzara, Patricia Clarkson, James Caan, Philip Baker Hall and others who give their all for their director. It's often charged that Trier is a misogynist, personally I don't see it that way, more so as Dogville reaches its crushing climax. This easily could have been shaved of 20 minutes from the run time, but it has to be said that Von Trier doesn't waste a single frame here. Roll your dice and take your chance, you will either love it or hate it, or admire or admonish, what isn't in doubt is that you will never ever forget watching Dogville. 9/10
CinemaSerf
I reckon this is my favourite Lars Von Trier film. Set amidst some eerily basic staging purporting to be an hick American town, we see the arrival of "Grace" (Nicole Kidman). Now she is attired in furs and lace and is clearly on the run from something, or someone. Shortly after, some hoods turn up in the town and leave a card in case she ever shows up... The townsfolk are ostensibly nice enough - if rather an eclectic mix, and local "Tom" (Paul Bettany) takes a bit of a shine to her. Can she stay? Initially they can find nothing for her to do, but gradually they seem to embrace her and she becomes an integral - almost enthralled - member of their society. Some rather odd manipulation from the young "Jason" (Miles Purinton) causes things to start to take a darker turn, though, and she and her as yet unfulfilled beau decide that it might be time for her to go. Will she be permitted? This story is darkly brutal at times, the harshness of her increasingly inhumane treatment is exemplified by the presence of a cast that features an almost menacing Lauren Bacall, as well as effective contributions from Blair Brown, Ben Gazzara and Philip Baker Hall who all demonstrate clearly just how fake the facade in this town is. Kidman is superb, probably the best I have seen her on screen. She has a potent chemistry with the on-form Bettany and the stage lighting, paucity of settings and the overall simplicity of the production works really well before an ending that I feared might not deliver as I wanted - but boy, it does! This is well worth a watch. It illustrates the best and worst in human nature - but with the emphasis very much more on the latter!
badelf
SPOILERS On my second watch of this film, I am now convinced that Von Trier is the Ingmar Bergman of the 20th century. No other director today digs so profoundly into the human soul, or in such a creative way. And no other director has been so daring with visual translation. On this watching of Dogville, it finally hit me that this story is the life story of a woman in an abusive relationship. Maybe inspired in part by Polly's "Seeräuberjenny" from Threepenny Opera, or not. Nonetheless, the film script is the same as what might be experienced by a woman drawn into a relationship by a seemingly enchanting man(town). Eventually, as it turns exploitive and finally abusive, she becomes numb and resigned. Some women never escape that stage. Some women are able to escape and most of those are murdered by the abuser. And a few actually murder the abuser. Perhaps the latter is the only way out.
Movie Recommendation
Manderlay2005-06-03In 1933, after leaving Dogville, Grace Margaret Mulligan sees a slave being punished at a cotton farm called Manderlay. Officially, slavery is illegal and Grace stands up against the farmers. She stays with some gangsters in Manderlay and tries to influence the situation. But when harvest time comes, Grace sees the social and economic reality of Manderlay.More...
Dancer in the Dark2000-09-01Selma, a Czech immigrant on the verge of blindness, struggles to make ends meet for herself and her son, who has inherited the same genetic disorder and will suffer the same fate without an expensive operation. When life gets too difficult, Selma learns to cope through her love of musicals, escaping life's troubles – even if just for a moment – by dreaming up little numbers to the rhythmic beats of her surroundings.More...
Breaking the Waves1996-07-05In a small and conservative Scottish village, a woman's paralytic husband convinces her to have extramarital intercourse so she can tell him about it and give him a reason for living.More...
Antichrist2009-05-20A grieving couple retreats to their cabin 'Eden' in the woods, hoping to repair their broken hearts and troubled marriage. But nature takes its course and things go from bad to worse.More...
Melancholia2011-05-26Justine and Michael are celebrating their marriage at a sumptuous party in the home of her sister Claire, and brother-in-law John. Despite Claire’s best efforts, the wedding is a fiasco, with family tensions mounting and relationships fraying. Meanwhile, a planet called Melancholia is heading directly towards Earth…More...
Read My Lips2001-10-17She is almost deaf and she lip-reads. He is an ex-convict. She wants to help him. He thinks no one can help except himself.More...
Nymphomaniac: Vol. I2013-12-25A man named Seligman finds a fainted wounded woman in an alley and he brings her home. She tells him that her name is Joe and that she is nymphomaniac. Joe tells her life and sexual experiences with hundreds of men since she was a young teenager while Seligman tells about his hobbies, such as fly fishing, reading about Fibonacci numbers or listening to organ music.More...
The House That Jack Built2018-07-05Failed architect, engineer and vicious murderer Jack narrates the details of some of his most elaborately orchestrated crimes, each of them a towering piece of art that defines his life's work as a serial killer for twelve years.More...
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown1988-03-25Pepa resolves to kill herself with a batch of sleeping-pill-laced gazpacho after her lover leaves her. Fortunately, she is interrupted by a deliciously chaotic series of events.More...
The Hours2002-12-27The story of three women searching for more potent, meaningful lives. Each is alive at a different time and place, all are linked by their yearnings and their fears. Their stories intertwine, and finally come together in a surprising, transcendent moment of shared recognition.More...
Rabbit Hole2010-12-16Life for a happy couple is turned upside down after their young son dies in an accident.More...
To Die For1995-09-22Suzanne Stone wants to be a world-famous news anchor and she is willing to do anything to get what she wants. What she lacks in intelligence, she makes up for in cold determination and diabolical wiles. As she pursues her goal with relentless focus, she is forced to destroy anything and anyone that may stand in her way, regardless of the ultimate cost or means necessary.More...
Adam's Apples2005-04-15A neo-nazi sentenced to community service at a church clashes with the blindly devotional priest.More...
Cold Mountain2003-12-24In this classic story of love and devotion set against the backdrop of the American Civil War, a wounded Confederate soldier named W.P. Inman deserts his unit and travels across the South, aiming to return to his young wife, Ada, who he left behind to tend their farm. As Inman makes his perilous journey home, Ada struggles to keep their home intact with the assistance of Ruby, a mysterious drifter sent to help her by a kindly neighbor.More...
Elegy2008-08-08Cultural critic David Kepesh finds his life -- which he indicates is a state of "emancipated manhood" -- thrown into tragic disarray by Consuela Castillo, a well-mannered student who awakens a sense of sexual possessiveness in her teacher.More...
Ex Drummer2007-01-31Three handicapped losers who form a band ask famous writer Dries to be their drummer. He joins the band and starts manipulating them.More...
Six Men Getting Sick1967-01-01Lynch's first film project consists of a loop of six people vomiting projected on to a special sculptured screen featuring twisted three-dimensional faces.More...
Europa1991-06-27A young, idealist American gets a job as a train conductor for the Zentropa railway network in postwar, US-occupied Frankfurt. As various people try to take advantage of him, he soon finds his position politically sensitive, and gets caught up in a whirlpool of conspiracies and Nazi sympathisers.More...
Boy & the World2014-01-17Suffering because of his father's departure to the big city, a boy leaves his village and discovers a fantastic world dominated by bug-engines and strange beings. An unusual animation with various artistic techniques that portrays the issues of the modern world through the eyes of a child.More...
Ladies in Black2018-10-18Adapted from the bestselling novel by Madeleine St John, Ladies in Black is an alluring and tender-hearted comedy drama about the lives of a group of department store employees in 1959 Sydney.More...
Similar Movies
Dead Man Walking
1995-12-29A death row inmate turns for spiritual guidance to a local nun in the days leading up to his scheduled execution for the murders of a young couple.For Your Eyes Only
1981-06-24A British spy ship has sunk and on board was a hi-tech encryption device. James Bond is sent to find the device that holds British launching instructions before the enemy Soviets get to it first.A Streetcar Named Des...
1951-09-19A disturbed, aging Southern belle moves in with her sister for solace — but being face-to-face with her brutish brother-in-law accelerates her downward spiral.Finding Forrester
2000-12-21Gus Van Sant tells the story of a young African American man named Jamal who confronts his talents while living on the streets of the Bronx. He accidentally runs into an old writer named Forrester who discovers his passion for writing. With help from his new mentor Jamal receives a scholarship to a private school.Four Weddings and a F...
1994-03-09Over the course of five social occasions, a committed bachelor must consider the notion that he may have discovered love.From Dusk Till Dawn
1996-01-19After kidnapping a father and his two kids, the Gecko brothers head south to a seedy Mexican bar to hide out in safety, unaware of its notorious vampire clientele.Gone with the Wind
1939-12-15The spoiled daughter of a Georgia plantation owner conducts a tumultuous romance with a cynical profiteer during the American Civil War and Reconstruction Era.Priest of Evil
2010-10-29Detective sergeant Timo Harjunpää of the Helsinki Violent Crime Unit loses his daughter in a tragic way. Despite the support of his closest colleague, Constable Onerva Nykänen, Harjunpää is unable to recover from the loss of his family. He seeks revenge against his daughter's killer, while in his work he investigates strange deaths in the Helsinki metro that turn out to be the work of a serial killer.Forrest Gump
1994-06-23A man with a low IQ has accomplished great things in his life and been present during significant historic events—in each case, far exceeding what anyone imagined he could do. But despite all he has achieved, his one true love eludes him.Citizen Kane
1941-04-17Newspaper magnate Charles Foster Kane is taken from his mother as a boy and made the ward of a rich industrialist. As a result, every well-meaning, tyrannical or self-destructive move he makes for the rest of his life appears in some way to be a reaction to that deeply wounding event.A Spot for Frog
2022-06-01Locked out of the school art room, a creative non-binary teen named Frog grapples with anxiety as they seek a new place to eat lunch. Imagination blurs with reality in this hybrid work of live action and animation about finding a place to belong.Hangout
2016-12-22After nine celebrities accept an invitation to visit a remote island, they find themselves trapped with a mysterious killer hunting them down.Blackmail
1929-07-11London, 1929. Frank Webber, a very busy Scotland Yard detective, seems to be more interested in his work than in Alice White, his girlfriend. Feeling herself ignored, Alice agrees to go out with an elegant and well-mannered artist who invites her to visit his fancy apartment.Rashomon
1950-08-26Four people recount different versions of the story of a man's murder and the rape of his wife.Basquiat
1996-08-09The brief life of Jean Michel Basquiat, a world renowned New York street artist struggling with fame, drugs and his identity.The Cuckoo
2002-01-01September of 1944, a few days before Finland went out of the Second World War. A chained to a rock Finnish sniper-kamikadze Veikko managed to set himself free. Ivan, a captain of the Soviet Army, arrested by the Front Secret Police 'Smersh', has a narrow escape. They are soldiers of the two enemy armies. A Lapp woman Anni gives a shelter to both of them at her farm. For Anni they are not enemies, but just men.Fat Girl
2001-03-07Anaïs is twelve and bears the weight of the world on her shoulders. She watches her older sister, Elena, whom she both loves and hates. Elena is fifteen and devilishly beautiful. Neither more futile, nor more stupid than her younger sister, she cannot understand that she is merely an object of desire. And, as such, she can only be taken. Or had. Indeed, this is the subject: a girl's loss of virginity. And, that summer, it opens a door to tragedy.Frenzy
1972-05-25London is terrorized by a vicious sex killer known as The Necktie Murderer. Following the brutal slaying of his ex-wife, down-on-his-luck Richard Blaney is suspected by the police of being the killer. He goes on the run, determined to prove his innocence.The Experiment
2001-03-0820 volunteers agree to take part in a seemingly well-paid experiment advertised by the university. It is supposed to be about aggressive behavior in an artificial prison situation. A journalist senses a story behind the ad and smuggles himself in among the test subjects. They are randomly divided into prisoners and guards. What seems like a game at the beginning soon turns into bloody seriousness.Dances with Wolves
1990-03-30Wounded Civil War soldier John Dunbar tries to commit suicide—and becomes a hero instead. As a reward, he's assigned to his dream post, a remote junction on the Western frontier, and soon makes unlikely friends with the local Sioux tribe.