Nicole Kidman Movie:

				Salesrank: 219296
		MPAA Rating: R (Restricted) Media: DVD

Editorial Review:
The latest galvanizing and controversial film from Lars von Trier (Dancer in the Dark, Breaking the Waves, The Kingdom), Dogville uses ingenious theatricality to tell the Depression-era story of Grace (Nicole Kidman, The Others), a beautiful fugitive who stumbles onto a tiny town in the Rocky Mountains. Spurred on by Tom (Paul Bettany, Master and Commander), who fancies himself the town's moral guide, the citizens of Dogville first resist Grace, then embrace her, then resent and torment her--little realizing they will pay a price for their selfish brutality. The town is indicated by fragments of building and chalk outlines on a soundstage floor, stylishly pointing to the movie's roots in classic plays (particularly Thornton Wilder's Our Town and Friedrich Durrenmatt's The Visit). Several critics have stridently attacked Dogville as anti-American, but the movie's dark, compelling view applies as easily to Rwanda, Bosnia, the Middle East, or pretty much anywhere in the world. Also featuring Lauren Bacall, Patricia Clarkson, Jeremy Davies, Stellan Skarsgârd, Chloe Sevigny, and many more. --Bret Fetzer

Dogville [Region 2] Reviews:
What Hollywod has lost.
2009-06-01 - No props only tape lines where houses and stores would be on an empty stage. Dialogue carries this film and even though there are no props, the director has you seeing the town clearer than the real thing. once again another film made that does not need SFX to be great. Great movie to own for true film and story lovers...HAVE FUN!

'X'

Extraordinary
2009-04-22 - When I first uncovered the book, in it's packaging, I expected to find a rather used book. I was, however, surprised to find that, not only was the book well protected in the mailing, but it appeared brand new. I am extremely pleased with this transaction, and thank everyone concerned in making this purchase worth waiting for.

Disturbingly Brilliant Expose of the Dance of Polarity
2009-04-08 - This is about as far away as one can get from a 'feel good' flick, yet it is undeniably powerful and delivers a most difficult subject to ponder that really is one of the central themes to the human experience: the delicate balance between good and evil and how one navigates in the waters of extreme polarity. Director Lars von Trier has created a uniquely affecting tale that is played out on a single soundstage with only the most basic of non-human elements so that the focus can be exclusively on the relationships of the people in 'Dogville'. And it is this intense development of the dynamics of the character's interactions that makes this film the powerful statement it is.

What we see in the gradually developing story of Dogville is how noble traits such as good intentions, giving, forgiveness and long suffering - when taken to the extreme - can actually empower evil and destroy oneself. It seems to me the message in this film is that self love is equally important as love for others. And so, we are taught an important lesson of Balance here. This issue comes to a dramatic pinnacle with Grace's conversation with her gangster-boss father (James Caan) near the end of the film in the back of his limo. They both represent arrogance in polarized opposite ways: hers of the lightside; his of the dark.

In the end, Grace chooses to 'balance the scales' in order to find her own peace and resolution for the horrors inflicted upon her. We witness karmic debt being cancelled as Dogville goes up in flames. In my sense of fairness, it couldn't have ended any other way, and be truthful. I say this not to condone the actions she ultimately chooses here: the movie is what it is. It's a lesson in just how out of balance one can become in trying to 'love' others that we actually become that which we hate: In Grace's case, her altruism taken to the extreme ultimately transforms her into violent retribution. We are left to speculate that she could have created a much different and more humane outcome simply by not allowing herself to become the doormat for all those who did indeed exploit her. That would have not been possible unless she played the role she played. Had she embraced more self respect and defined her boundaries, the nasty outcome would most probably have been aborted entirely. What we see played out here is the natural result of embracing extremes of polarity. The truth (and sanity) lies in a healthy balance between the two.

This is a most unique and thought-provocative film about what it means to be human and live in the cosmic soup of good and evil that we find ourselves in. I believe that most people desire to be good and kind to their neighbor. However, there are healthy limits to how much abuse one can take and if we do not also be kind to ourselves, we are out of balance and we end up with a mini (or major)-Dogville on our hands. This is an issue that is central to everyone's life to some degree and one we must all come to resolution with eventually. In contemplating this further, was it not her own fear that inspired her playing the role of doormat? She wanted to 'be saved'. THAT was her foundational error.

Nicole Kidman's acting in this film is probably the best of her career. She is convincing as the archetypical altruistic martyr as she continually chooses to overlook the bad behaviour of those around her, making allowances for their 'weaknesses' and deliberately forgives those who exploit her. Excellent also is Paul Bettany as Tom, who is also an archetype of an all too common character: seemingly kind and good-hearted at first, but when push comes to shove is revealed to be a weak, spineless, self-serving wimp with no real integrity. With Tom, goodness is really all just 'appearance'. There are many archetypes of dysfunctional humans in this film... it is indeed a cross section of humanity. (May God have mercy on us all). Director Trier developes all characters with equal skill as he weaves the tale in layer upon layer of psychological intrigue.

This film is not easy to watch, for it's really a study of the dark side of humanity. But I think it is a necessary one. It is also a rather long film, and it did take me a little while for it to grab and sustain my attention, due to the unorthodox 'theatrical' setting which took some getting used to just because it so 'different'. But due to the many excellent reviews here I persevered and I'm glad I did for once I allowed myself to become part of the Dogville world, I was quite affected. Dogville reveals itself to be a powerful metaphor for the entire world and all of humanity. Yes, we indeed live in a realm of the predator and the prey, and it seems the thing that matters most is not the ultimate outcome but how we choose to navigate our way through the treacherous waters: how fairly we treat ourselves, as equally as how fairly we treat others.

Substance worth pondering indeed.

Fascinating and infuriating, in other words, a typical Lars von Trier film...
2009-03-21 - Denmark's Lars von Trier, one of their finest directors, is also one of the most polarising filmmakers today. He's been rather quiet as of late, not making a film since 2005, but he's still out there. This film, Dogville, alternates between being brilliant, astonishing, and frustrating, but it's undeniably a work of art that has many cheering at the end and some demanding their money back.

The film is shot in von Trier's hand held, digital video style that he's used since his TV series, The Kingdom (this was the series that Kingdom Hospital was based on). While I generally dislike hand held camerawork (it's way overdone in my opinion), von Trier's hand held style is not straightforward. It's a hand held/jump cut style, where von Trier gets to the heart of the scene with no desire for strict continuity. In the hands of a lesser director, this would be a disaster, but in the hands of Lars, it works amazingly well. Von Trier operates the camera himself, with his director of photography Anthony Dod Mantle (the cinematographer who recently won an Academy Award for his work on Slumdog Millionare).

This film concerns itself with many things. America, idealism (and foolish idealism), hypocrisy, anger, foolishness, and the darker side of human nature. The film is shot entirely on a soundstage with very few props, like Thorton Wilder's Our Town, where you imagine most of what's going on. This technique lends itself to deeply fascinating shots, where von Trier holds a long shot where you can see inside two houses, and see what's going on in one house, while something related is going on in another house. It creates a startling distancing effect, and it's quite effective.

John Hurt's narration is quite caustic and acerbic, and he reads it very well. The performances are very good, with Nicole Kidman and Paul Bettany particularly good. The only thing I don't really like about this work is the rather stilted English dialogue. Von Trier has filmed in English many times, but his dialogue always has a tendency to be "learned" American English rather than "natural" American English. He opens himself up to criticism rather easily because he's never actually been to America (he's afraid of flying). Still, Dogville is worth watching. It's von Trier's longest work (at 177 minutes), but it's fascinating and quite often difficult to watch, but it's worth it.

the worst movie I have ever sat through
2008-12-28 - The storyline presumes to impart some profound social message. It strives to inform us humans are inherently evil so we may just as well throw in the towel and join the Mafia. One is left with the impression the entire budget was spent on big name talent leaving not a scrap to spend on scenery, setting, plot, costumes, music or action. This is one of the worst movies I have ever seen. For the first time I saw James Caan deliver a lousy performance. Even he seemed bored and embarrassed to find himself playing this role. The movie has zero entertainment value and actually takes it a step beyond into the negative number zone of displeasure. Expect no comic relief. It does not even deserve one star. The film is a DOG.