| Dogville | |
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Dogville DVD cover |
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| Directed by | Lars von Trier |
| Produced by | Vibeke Windeløv |
| Written by | Lars von Trier |
| Starring | Nicole Kidman Lauren Bacall Chloë Sevigny Paul Bettany Stellan Skarsgård Udo Kier James Caan |
| Distributed by | Columbia Tristar |
| Release date(s) | May 19, 2003 (Premiere) |
| Running time | 178 min. Lars von Trier (born Lars Trier, April 30, 1956) is a Danish Film director and Screenwriter. Lars von Trier (born Lars Trier, April 30, 1956) is a Danish Film director and Screenwriter. Chloë Stevens Sevigny (born November 18, 1974) is an Academy Award and Golden Globe -nominated American Actress and Paul Bettany (born May 27, 1971) is a BAFTA - and Screen Actors Guild Award-nominated English Actor, who has starred as (ˈstɛlːan ˈskɒːʂgɔɖ in Swedish or "Skashgord" born 13 June 1951 is a Swedish Film Actor, known for his roles in Breaking Udo Kier (born October 14 1944, as Udo Kierspe) is a German Actor. James Edmund Caan (born March 26, 1940) is an American Academy Award - Emmy - and Golden Globe -nominated American }} Columbia Pictures Industries Inc is an American Film production and distribution company Events 1535 - French explorer Jacques Cartier sets sail on his second voyage to North America with three ships 110 men and Year 2003 ( MMIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $10,000,000 |
| Followed by | Manderlay |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Dogville is a 2003 movie written and directed by Lars von Trier, starring Nicole Kidman, Paul Bettany, Lauren Bacall, Chloë Sevigny, Stellan Skarsgård and James Caan. English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States For the fictional estate see Manderley; for the Burmese city see Mandalay. Year 2003 ( MMIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. A film director, or filmmaker, is a person who directs the making of a Film. Lars von Trier (born Lars Trier, April 30, 1956) is a Danish Film director and Screenwriter. Paul Bettany (born May 27, 1971) is a BAFTA - and Screen Actors Guild Award-nominated English Actor, who has starred as Chloë Stevens Sevigny (born November 18, 1974) is an Academy Award and Golden Globe -nominated American Actress and (ˈstɛlːan ˈskɒːʂgɔɖ in Swedish or "Skashgord" born 13 June 1951 is a Swedish Film Actor, known for his roles in Breaking James Edmund Caan (born March 26, 1940) is an American Academy Award - Emmy - and Golden Globe -nominated American It is a parable that uses an extremely minimal set to tell the story of Grace (Kidman), a fugitive from mobsters, who arrives in the small town of Dogville and is provided refuge in return for physical labor. A parable is a brief succinct story in Prose or verse, that illustrates a Moral or Religious lesson Set construction is a process by which a set designer works in collaboration with the director of the production to create the set for a theatrical film or television
The film is the first in the USA - Land of Opportunities trilogy, followed by Manderlay (2005) and Wasington (2009). Lars von Trier (born Lars Trier, April 30, 1956) is a Danish Film director and Screenwriter. A trilogy is a set of three works of art usually Literature, Film, or Video games, that are connected and can be seen either as a single work or three For the fictional estate see Manderley; for the Burmese city see Mandalay. Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Lars von Trier (born Lars Trier, April 30, 1956) is a Danish Film director and Screenwriter. This article is about the year For the film see 2009 Lost Memories.
The film was in competition for the Palme d'Or at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival but Gus Van Sant's Elephant won the award. The Palme d'Or ( English: Golden Palm) is the highest prize awarded to competing films at the Cannes Film Festival. Year 2003 ( MMIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. The Cannes Film Festival (le Festival de Cannes founded in 1946 is one of the world's oldest most influential and prestigious Film festivals alongside Venice, Gus Green Van Sant Jr he has dealt unflinchingly with homosexual and other marginalized subcultures without being particularly concerned about providing positive role models Elephant is a 2003 crime - Drama film written and directed by Gus Van Sant.
Contents |
The story of Dogville is narrated by John Hurt in nine chapters and takes place on a stage with minimalist scenery. John Vincent Hurt, CBE (born 22 January 1940 is an English Actor. Some walls and furniture are placed on the stage, but the rest of the scenery exists merely as white painted outlines which have big labels on them; for example, the outlines of gooseberry bushes have the text "Gooseberry Bushes" written next to them. While this form of staging is common in black box theaters, it has rarely been attempted on film before (the 1954 musical Western Red Garters and Vanya on 42nd Street being notable exceptions). The black box theater is a relatively recent innovation consisting of a simple somewhat unadorned Performance space usually a large square room with black walls and a flat Year 1954 ( MCMLIV) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1954 Gregorian calendar) The musical film is a Film genre in which several Songs sung by the characters are interwoven into the narrative The Western is a fiction Genre seen in Film, Television, Radio, Literature, Painting and other Visual arts. Red Garters was a movie starring Rosemary Clooney, Guy Mitchell, and Jack Carson, made in 1954. Vanya on 42nd Street is a 1994 Film by Louis Malle and Andre Gregory. The bare staging serves to focus the audience's attention on the acting and storytelling, and also reminds them of the film's artificiality. As such it is heavily influenced by the theatre of Bertolt Brecht. (born; 10 February 1898&ndash14 August 1956 was a German Poet, Playwright, and Theatre director. The film does however employ carefully designed lighting to suggest natural effects such as the moving shadows of clouds, and sound effects are used to create the presence of non-existent set pieces (i. e. there are no doors, but the doors can always be heard when an actor "opens" or "closes" one).
The movie was shot on high-definition video using a Sony HDW-F900 camera in a studio in Trollhättan, Sweden. High-definition (HD video generally refers to any video system of higher resolution than standard-definition (SD video most commonly at display resolutions of 1280×720 Sony 's CineAlta 24P HD ( high definition video) Cameras are a series of professional digital video cameras that offer many of the same features Trollhättan ( is a city (pop 53952 (2007 in Västergötland, Sweden, and the seat of Trollhättan Municipality, Västra Götaland "Sverige" redirects here For other uses see Sweden (disambiguation and Sverige (disambiguation.
Tagline: A quiet little town not far from here.
The story of Dogville is given in 9 chapters and a prologue, with a description of each chapter given as it takes place in the film. These descriptions are given below.
Dogville is a very small American town in the Rocky Mountains with a road leading up to it, but nowhere to go but the mountains. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Mountain peaks of the Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, often called the Rockies, are a Mountain range in western North America. The film begins with a prologue in which we meet a dozen or so of the fifteen citizens. They are portrayed as lovable, good people with small flaws which are easy to forgive.
The town is seen from the point of view of Tom Edison (Paul Bettany), an aspiring writer who procrastinates by trying to get his fellow citizens together for regular meetings on the subject of "moral rearmament. Paul Bettany (born May 27, 1971) is a BAFTA - and Screen Actors Guild Award-nominated English Actor, who has starred as " It is clear that Tom wants to succeed his aging father as the moral and spiritual leader of the town.
It is Tom who first meets Grace (Nicole Kidman), who is on the run from gangsters who apparently shot at her. Grace, a beautiful but modest woman, wants to keep running, but Tom assures her that the mountains ahead are too difficult to pass. As they talk, the gangsters approach the town, and Tom quickly hides Grace in a nearby mine. One of the gangsters asks Tom if he has seen the woman, which he denies, and so the gangster offers him a reward and hands him a card with a phone number to call in case Grace shows up.
Tom decides to use Grace as an "illustration" in his next meeting - a way for the townspeople to prove that they are indeed committed to community values, and willing to help the stranger. They remain skeptical, so Tom proposes that Grace should be given a chance to prove that she is a good person. Grace is accepted for two weeks in which, as Tom explains to her after the meeting, she has to convince the townspeople to like her.
On Tom's suggestion, Grace offers to do chores for the citizens - talking to the lonely, blind Jack McCay (Ben Gazzara), helping to run the small shop, looking after the children of Chuck (Stellan Skarsgård) and Vera (Patricia Clarkson), and so forth. Biagio Anthony “Ben” Gazzara (born August 28, 1930) is an American Actor in Television and Motion pictures. (ˈstɛlːan ˈskɒːʂgɔɖ in Swedish or "Skashgord" born 13 June 1951 is a Swedish Film Actor, known for his roles in Breaking Patricia Davies Clarkson (born December 29, 1959) is an American Academy Award -nominated and Emmy-winning Actress. After some initial reluctance, the people accept her help in doing those chores that "nobody really needs" but which nevertheless make life better, and so she becomes a part of the community.
In tacit agreement, she is expected to continue her chores, which she does gladly, and is even paid small wages in return. Grace even begins to make friends with some of the members of town, including Jack McKay, an old blind man who pretends that he is not blind. Grace tricks him into admitting that he is blind, earning his respect. After the two weeks are over, everyone votes that she should be allowed to stay.
But when the police arrive to place a "Missing" poster with Grace's picture and name on it on the mission house, the mood darkens slightly. Should they not cooperate with the police?
Still, things continue as usual until the 4th of July celebrations. In the United States, Independence Day, commonly known as the Fourth of July (or the Fourth) is a Federal holiday commemorating the adoption After Tom awkwardly admits his love to Grace and the whole town expresses their agreement that it has become a better place thanks to her, the police arrive again to replace the "Missing" poster with a "Wanted" poster. Grace is now wanted for participation in a bank robbery. Everyone agrees that she must be innocent, since at the time the robbery took place, she was doing chores for the townspeople every day.
Nevertheless, Tom argues that because of the increased risk to the town now that they are harboring someone who is wanted as a criminal, Grace should provide a quid pro quo and do more chores for the townspeople within the same time, for less pay. Quid pro quo ( Latin for "something for something") indicates a more-or-less equal exchange or substitution of goods or services At this point, what was previously a voluntary arrangement takes on a slightly coercive nature as Grace is clearly uncomfortable with the idea. Still, being very amenable and wanting to please Tom, Grace agrees.
At this point the situation worsens, as with her additional workload, Grace inevitably makes mistakes, and the people she works for seem to be equally irritated by the new schedule – and take it out on Grace. The situation slowly escalates, with the male citizens making small sexual advances to Grace and the female ones becoming increasingly abusive. Even the children are perverse: Jason (Miles Purinton), the perhaps 10-year-old son of Chuck and Vera, asks Grace to spank him, until she finally complies after much provocation. Soon thereafter Chuck returns home and rapes Grace, as it becomes obvious that she is hardly able to defend herself against exploitation.
After Tom discusses the possibility of escape with her, Grace is blamed by Vera both for spanking Jason and for being raped by Chuck. In revenge, Vera threatens Grace with destroying the porcelain figurines created by the town shop that she had acquired with the little wages she was given, Grace begs for mercy, reminding Vera of how she taught her children about stoicism. Stoicism, a school of Hellenistic philosophy, was founded in Athens by Zeno of Citium in the early third century BC In response, Vera challenges Grace to stand up without shedding a tear while she destroys the first two of the porcelain figurines. Grace not being able to hold her tears, Vera destroys the remaining figurines. The symbol of her belonging in the town gone, she now knows that she must leave. With the help of Tom and Ben, the freight driver, she attempts escape in his apple truck, only to find herself raped by Ben and then returned to the town.
The town agrees that they must not let her escape again. The money that she used to pay Ben had been taken by Tom from his father, and Grace is blamed for the theft. Tom refuses to come forward because, he explains, this is the only way he can still protect Grace without people getting suspicious. At this point, Grace's status as slave is finally confirmed as she is collared and chained to a large iron wheel which she must carry around with her, too heavy to allow her to move anywhere outside the town. More humiliatingly still, a bell is attached to her collar and announces her presence wherever she goes. Tom is the only male citizen of the town that does not rape her.
This culminates in a late night general assembly in which Grace —following Tom's suggestion— relates calmly all that she has endured from everyone in town. Embarrassed and in complete denial, the townspeople finally decide to get rid of her. When Tom informs Grace to console her, he attempts to make love to her, having been the only adult male townperson who hasn't had sex with her. Grace, however, refuses to have sex with him. Angry partly at Grace's rejection, but even more at himself for his realization that he would eventually stoop to force himself upon her like everyone else in the town, Tom ends up personally calling the mobsters, and later proposes to unanimous approval that she be locked up in her shack.
When the mobsters finally arrive, they are welcomed cordially by Tom and an impromptu committee of other townspeople. Grace is then freed and we finally learn who she really is: the daughter of a powerful gang leader who ran away because she could not stand her father's dirty work. Her father confronts her in his big limousine and tells her that she is arrogant for not holding others to the same high standards to which she holds herself. At first she refuses to listen, but as she looks again upon the town and its people, she is compelled to agree: she would have to condemn them to the worst possible punishment if she held them to her own standards, and it would be inhumane not to do so.
So she accepts to be again her father's daughter, and immediately demands that the whole town be eliminated. In particular, she gives the order to have Vera look on at the murder of each of her children, having been told that it would stop if she can hold back her tears. The film ends in a crescendo of violence: the town is burned and all its citizens are brutally murdered by the gangsters on direct order from Grace, with the exception of Tom, whom she kills personally with a revolver. As the ashes of Dogville smolder around her, she finds and spares the only surviving resident, Moses the Dogville dog. Ironically, the only "dog" that hasn't wronged her was the town dog that had disappeared while the town was revealing its true nature.
The film is set in the 1930s, and the small dead-end town of Dogville can be a symbol for any similar town in the United States. Year 1930 ( MCMXXX) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display 1930 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the As the fifteen citizens and the children of Dogville are introduced to Grace, they are put to a moral test: Are they willing to save a woman on the run who might be a criminal, and to potentially risk their own lives for her, receiving little more than kindness in return? Grace too, is faced with a test: when faced with cruelty from the people of Dogville, can she forgive them, or will she seek revenge? [1][2][3]
Critics have accused Dogville of having strongly anti-American messages. Anti-Americanism, often anti-American sentiment, is opposition or hostility to the people culture or policies of the United States. Ebert and Roeper repeatedly expressed this sentiment during their television review citing, for example, the closing credits sequence with images of poverty-stricken Americans accompanied by David Bowie's song "Young Americans. David Bowie (ˈboʊiː born David Robert Jones on 8 January 1947 is an English Musician, actor producer, and arranger. " Young Americans " is a single by David Bowie. History The first studio result of Bowie’s mid-1970s obsession with soul, "Young " However, others feel that the message is much broader: the human species is just naturally inclined toward evil and that, like a dog who cannot help but behave in a dog-like fashion, humans simply cannot be expected to live up to their own high ideals.