Review of Dogville (2003) by Mitchell S — 12 Jul 2017

Dogville might not be my personal favorite, but I wouldn't argue with anyone who said it it's the best movie ever made. It combined everything I love about the theater with everything great about independent films and foreign films. I have forgotten most of the movies I've watched over the past 17 years but I still remember the first time I watched Dogville and the second time I watched it, with my parents, who were scandalized, but of course very enthralled with the allegorical subject matter. It's very long and minimalist but it's very much anti-imperialist America, which is why I liked it. It's classified as an international film since Lars is Danish, the production companies are multiple countries, and the cast is British / American. The movie got pretty savage reviews by the US media, mostly decrying the fact that it was vitriolic, anti-American and bitter. That was one of my coming-of-age moments when I realized most critics don't know what they're talking about. Since when is passion in art a bad thing?

Few films, outside of the torture porn genre, will fill you with as much righteous fury as Dogville. The film is an exceptional allegory for mankind's gross sins against his own people. As much as we would all like to believe that the film is about man's suffering and the injustice of mob mentality, there is one important point we're all missing. This is about your country! Dogville is the harshest criticism of American values I've ever seen and that is strictly because of its allegorical simplicity and G-rated content. This ambiance makes Lars Von Trier's vitriolic commentary seem like a Disney cartoon on crack. Nicole Kidman's performance is brilliantly naive and yet subtle enough to suggest she doesn't know what the movie's about. (She does...she's an Aussie) The many bizarre cameos by American actors just amaze me. (Sonny Corleone, what were you thinking?) Dogville is a triumph of manic depressive, prejudicial rage.

What I Learned: Definitely one of the movies that made me lose faith in humanity. Realizing that your own country is capable of great evil, and that people you trusted are fully capable of exploiting your weakness and your forgiveness, is frightening. I think Dogville is a movie that disillusions you and brings you to a new level of consciousness. Like Kubrick, another influence of mine, I think Lars' voice-his distrust of humanity-is a strong voice in my head I have yet to shake.