Dogville
Dogville, by Lars von Trier is an interesting movie. It is divided in nine acts and one prologue, each introduced with a title screen that shows what will happen in that act.
The main thing about this movie that critics seem to be pointing out continuously is that the entire movie is shot on a set with virtually no attributes, except a few desks, beds and cars. I didn’t think it was irritating at all. In fact, it seemed to put emphasis on the fact that Grace is a newcomer, she can’t see through these walls. The people from Dogville appear to be able to do so, even though this is not stressed very much.
The entire movie has the feel of a classic movie from the 1920s, but it is much more vivid, events happen much faster. Despite this, the movie is still almost three hours long. It was able to keep my attention throughout all of it.
The scenes are sometimes accompanied by a male voice over, outlining some of the things that can’t be seen. The events displayed in the second half of the movie are pretty gruesome, but the narrator keeps the same, slightly cynic tone throughout it all.
The role of Tom Edison isn’t entirely clear. I don’t know if his actions were inspired by a cunning plan meant to abuse Grace in all her vulnerability, or if he acted out of an ignorant naivety, with nothing but the best intentions that just didn’t work out as well as he had hoped. I’m not sure if Grace saw Tom’s real intentions either. The ending seemed to suggest she did, which would also mean that Tom was acting out of cruelty more than ignorance.
The end is surprising, to say the least. Von Trier appears to want to say that anything that happens in or comes out of America is bad. But if you assume that people really are the same everywhere, he appears to be disapproving of human nature. During the movie, I was constantly thinking about which way it would end. I thought of a lot of possible endings, including the one Von Trier chose. But when it was over, I was left insatisfied, feeling that the end wasn’t appropriate somehow. On the other hand, I don’t think that any of the other endings I thought of would have been better.
I still feel dissatisfied with it, partially because Von Trier leaves some things implicit, and I am sure that everybody who goes to see this movie has his or her own interpretation of what is happening, what Von Trier tried to tell and whether it applied to all of us, or just America and its inhabitants.