Dogville - A Quiet Little Town Not Far From Here

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Dogville - A Quiet Little Town Not Far From Here

April 6th 2010 11:17

I am slowly becoming in love with the work of Lars von Trier. I am a fan of odd movies, films that are different, films that dare to move away from the mainstream. And that is what Lars von Trier does.

Dogville, is definitely not your average movie. The whole movie is shot on a black stage, with nothing more than chalk lines on the ground, akin to the plans of a house, to signify where buildings, houses, objects, and the like were. It has the appearance more of a stage play with minimal props, rather than a movie.

And that is the great thing about Dogville. Without elaborate backdrops, scenery or props, it all relies on the actors to portray everything. The simple action of opening a door that isn't really there, or purposely avoiding the towns prized flowers, makes you forget that these things are not really on screen.
An amazing cast of actors, with Nicole Kidman and Paul Bettany as the leads, playing Grace and Tom Edison, respectfully, they are able to really bring the town alive.

If you have read my previous film review for Dancer in the Dark, you will know that I do not like to give too much of the story away, and I will do the same with Dogville.

The movie begins with a prologue in which the town of Dogville is portrayed as a quiet, out of the way, small town where everyone is friendly with one another and share a tight bond. As the movie progresses, the story of how Grace has found herself in this town and how she attempts to breakthrough the townspeople's fear of new people and become one of them is told throughout nine chapters.

Tom is the only one at first who trusts Grace and wants to help her, and in one of his many town meetings regarding the towns moral code, convinces the people of Dogville to help Grace and prove their community values.

Dogville battles with the concept of how deceiving small, quiet towns really are, and how the people aren't always the humble folk they are portrayed as. As the help Grace povides the town become less volunteered and more forced upon her, as her status from the police goes from "missing" to wanted", Grace begins to find out the truth behind this quiet town.
Lars von Trier shows us the disturbingly, cruel nature of the people of Dogville, which leaves us wondering, what upstanding member of our own community could really be like these people?

This movie is disturbingly brilliant right to the very end. Dogville comes to a close in a surge of violence and mayhem, which honestly, is found to be quite fitting when one has seen the whole movie.
I will of course not tell you anything of the violence but this, if you want to know why it ended this way, you simple must watch it. Just reading about the movie will not do it any justice and you would miss out on a wonderful movie experience.

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