Review of Dogville (2003) by Phil C — 07 Mar 2011

I've not seen many of Lars Von Trier's films, but from my experience of them he's every bit as much an eccentric and a maverick as Werner Herzog, who he reminds me of in a roundabout way.

Imagine a Cluedo game-board using real people and you've got a fair idea of how the "scenery" looks; I think this is done for several reasons, some stylistic and some to do with focussing attention on the cast - it makes "Dogville" look and feel more like a modernist play than any conventional film, a fact that will attract some viewers and repel others.

John Hurt acts as the story's commentator, announcing and amplifying points as it moves through it's "acts", his sardonic delivery suits the tone well. Nicole Kidman and Paul Bettany stand out and deserve special praise for their performances, they're the central duo around whom the story revolves after Kidman's Grace (who seems to be on the run from a Mafia-like gang) arrives in town, initially to a good reception from the kindly residents including Bettany's Tom, who halfway falls in love with her.

All of this changes shockingly as the film progresses and the circumstances under which Grace is given shelter are altered; She is gradually reduced to little more than a slave and a whore for them to exploit at will. Even the little pottery figurines she has collected so diligently are smashed in front of her after she is shackled to a millstone like a beast of burden to restrict her mobility - she is informed that if she doesn't cry she can keep one of them - it doesn't happen.

Maybe Trier is making a point about the processes by which a vulnerable section of society comes to be degraded and exploited, like the Jews under the Nazis. Whatever the intended message, Grace has an explosive surprise in store for Dogville's population in the final reel: She is revealed as the daughter of James Caan's gang boss, who rolls into town "loaded for bear" with his cronies and asks what she wants done with her tormentors.

Initially, she's unsure and is on the verge of forgiving them and driving off, but when her instinct for revenge kicks in it is fierce and all-encompassing in it's venom. The town is torched and all of it's people shot, including Tom (still trying to intellectualise her suffering and explain his betrayals) and the woman who offered Grace's little figurines no mercy - she is given the same "deal" in respect to her children but again the outcome is the same.

It's a powerful, distinctive and haunting film that works because of it's emptiness rather than in spite of it, both cast and director have literally nowhere to hide if their performances don't cut the mustard - and they certainly do!