Dogville: A
BY NEIL FAUERSO
Dogville is a viewing experience akin to 2001,
The Stunt Man,
or The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser. Quite simply, it’s like nothing I’ve
ever seen. Superficially, the style is that of a play. The entire film takes
place on a soundstage; the set is extremely minimal—houses have no doors
or walls, only chalk outlines. That means that the actors mime the opening
and closing of doors to an overdubbed soundtrack. If that wasn’t stretch
enough, the film is supposed to be set in Colorado in the 1930s. Sounds nuts,
right? It is, but gloriously so; one of the miraculous things about the film
is how its landscape is so fantastical and compelling. Dogville feels entirely
alien, yet its emotional impact is undeniable.
The story is simple to the point of parable. On the run from mobsters,
a young woman named Grace (a never better Nicole Kidman) seeks refuge
in the tiny town of Dogville. Dogville’s citizens seem decent enough,
but they’re wary of the danger that hiding Grace might bring. So
the town’s moral center, Tom Edison Jr. (Paul Bettany), finds a
compromise—Grace will work for the people of Dogville to gain their
trust as well as pay them for harboring her.
Things go well enough at first; Grace makes friends, the townsfolk begin
to like her, and a romance blossoms between her and Tom. But as the police
begin popping in with wanted posters for Grace, the town begins upping
the ante of payment, first with extra work, eventually with increasingly
horrible and degrading demands.
Dogville was criticized at Cannes for being anti-American. I don’t
think that’s true or fair. Certainly, the movie is critical of the
capitalist system and the way it quantifies everything, but director Lars
Von Trier’s critique of human nature is far more universal. More
than any political statements, the film asks piercing questions about
morality, power, responsibility, and ego. There’s an absolutely
astonishing conversation between Grace and the gangster The Big Man (James
Caan) about arrogance that’s as affecting as anything I’ve
ever seen.
Von Trier’s script is beautiful: simple, but layered full of feeling
and black humor throughout its bleakness. His direction is fluid and
unobtrusive, occasionally swooping to breathtaking overhead shots. However,
all of Von Trier’s efforts would be disastrously misguided if
the cast wasn’t able to consummate his radical vision. Perhaps
not since the heyday of Altman has an ensemble performed so seamlessly
together. Kidman, after preening importantly in The
Hours and Cold Mountain,
is pitch-perfect here. Natural, alluring, sexy, and even menacing, Grace
may be Von Trier’s greatest female character yet. Equally good
is Paul Bettany who renders Tom Edison as the icky heart of American
moral superiority. All the other players (Patricia Clarkson, Stellan
Skaarsgard, Lauren Bacall) are excellent and give the film a supple,
rich ambience.
I still haven’t untangled Dogville. It is a dense, difficult film
and it provides no easy answers. The credits alone, in the context with
the rest of the film, are extremely powerful. I don’t know how wide
the distribution will be on this film, but even if you half to wait for
the DVD, brace yourself—it’s coming.
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