Dogville

When I started the movie and realized that it isn't really a movie, that it is more like a play and that there is really a lack of props and scenery I thought to myself, My God, what the heck did I buy???? I'm a huge fan of Nicole Kidman and she is the reason I bought it in the first place. The movie (or play), whatever u might wanna call it, drew me in and I couldn't stop watching. The end is so powerful, I was speechless. That's one of the best movies I have seen in a long, long, long, long time. I don't agree with the Anti-American comments I read here in some of the comments. Human emotions are all the same all over the world and this movie could have played in any country. Anyway, go watch this movie it's soooo worth it.

I am no great fan of Lars von Trier's work but I like Melancholia and Dogville a lot. Dogville is a hard and deep look on human society and human behaviour, on moral and ethics. Like the book Blindness by José Saramago, and the movie based on that book, it is not an easy watch, but a close, intense and realistic look on the shadow side of mankind.

On top, the method of stage acting like in a theatre adds some sense of advantgarde and extravaganza to Dogville, and makes this movie, with the theme, an exceptional piece of art.

Dogville is long, and if you don't have the patience for a slow ramp-up of tension, it'll turn you right off. There are a couple story devices Von Trier uses that really bugged me, and I almost shut it off once. I'm glad I stuck with him, though, because he really took it somewhere and I came away really enjoying the experience..

Critics who hated Dogville talk about it's hamhanded anti-American slant (Lars von Trier refuses ever to set foot in that country). I knew nothing about this film or Von Trier before seeing it and I have to say I entirely missed the anti-America thing until the backcredits. Don't get me wrong, there are several scenes that make commentary about rampant nationalism, prejudice towards immigrants and small town xenophobia, but those comments could be made about the zealous in ANY region of ANY nation at ANY time.

If we are to criticize 21-st Century America, and there are plenty of reasons to criticize it, we must also criticize other peoples and governments who are screwing up royally. I think if Dogville has a point to make to America, its not that it is uniquely problematic, but that it is as problematic as any other nation. Where on this planet can you NOT find a group of people who think:

THE WORLD WOULD BE A BETTER PLACE IF EVERYONE WAS JUST LIKE US.

That statement is the kernel of failure for every major conqueror and every major religion in history and it portends the long, inevitable swirl down the toilet and the people who want you toppled have only to sit back and watch you do it to yourself.

America is a great nation, with a lot of culture, history and art to be proud of, and maybe that's why modern artists feel the need to make pieces like Dogville. To remind America that, as great as it is, it's still a nation of crying, barfing, excreting, whining, greedy, worried, scared mouths to feed, just like the rest of us -- no better or worse.

That's all I think Dogville does as an anti-American piece. If Von Trier meant to just poo on America, he missed his mark and ended up making a point about all of us. Regardless, he among many others wants America to change it's mind about itself, and it doesn't matter if he hates it or loves it. Much more interesting to me is the blatantly obvious point Dogville makes -- to what point do you forgive the transgressions upon you by others who may be less fortunate but are nonetheless doing wrong? It sure made me take a look at my own pacifism.

Nicole Kidman was brilliant, as was Paul Bettany and the simpler townsfolk who will play so skillfully with your emotions. It seems I've been flooded with Kidman movies regularly for a couple weeks now and this is my favourite of her performances.

Good film, Dogville.

Just awesome! First, the quasi-theatrical film adaptation with only one stage set... one is amazed at how well this works. In my opinion it is even more effective this way than with a conventional film adaptation.

The story itself is a brilliant lesson in human behavior.

This is probably the most shocking movie experience I've ever had, not only because of the emotional impact, but because this is truly a moral-horror movie that slapped me in the face.

The film is probably one of the best moral tales ever told, in which Nicole Kidman and all the supporting cast shined. Why did the makers try to make it look incomplete? Why haven't they used more sophisticated production set rather than some made-believe structures directly exposing the film studio's interior environment to you? I didn't get it at first, thinking this might just be another pretending piece of crap that tried to be "artistic".

However as the story proceeded, the whole thing started to make senses. Featuring some of the best character study I've ever seen, the story involved you into the adventure of Grace, the main protagonist who's supposed to be despised by us logically and naturally. Then, the audiences were forced into a game that the filmmakers keep you guessing what would happen the next, until the very end.

The ending, in my opinion, is the most shocking and frightening ending ever seen in a film. Dogville is by no means marketed as a horror movie, but if one believes himself/herself to have the moral high ground, he or she should stand the test the movie has given us. For me, I chose to live with all the miseries happened to Grace and play along just like every other character in the story, "sh!t happens" as they say. This, has not only put me in shame but also freaked me out at the end. Considering the potential spoilers I would caused, I'd suggest you go see it for yourself.

With superb acting, very well plotted story and a shocking message for senseless societies, Dogville is easily a masterpiece.