Earlier this week, I decided to have an uplifting movie day
, featuring my second viewing of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and my long overdue first viewing of Lars Von Trier's Dogville. This is on the same day that I watched 2/3 of Vanilla Sky at the dentist while watching the occasional plume of smoke coming out of my mouth and followed a night of very little sleep. This second viewing of Eternal Sunshine... was much more enjoyable than my first one, based on circumstances that hit too close to home the first time I saw it. Now I could enjoy it as the fine film that it is. But then along comes Dogville. Unfortunately, I got sick and had to leave the movie about an hour into in - which is also only 1/3 of the way in. I finally made it back to the theater today to catch the whole movie.
Dogville, set during the depression in a fictitious rocky mountain town, is a wonderful study of minimalism. While it breaks many of the Dogme95 vows of chastity
, the influence of Von Trier's Dogme95 experiences still weigh heavy on this film. Many of cinema's normal trappings are stripped away, and we are instead brought into a visual world the size of a large stage (large enough for cars to occasionally come in and out), where roads and buildings and markers are stenciled on the ground like white chalk on a blackboard. A few walls and props exist, but the set is open enough that the outside action can always be witnessed outside of the scene. Pantomime and sound effects stand in for almost all doors. The musical soundtrack comes only in the form of classical music, usually accompanying the fairy-tale like voiceover. The other major structural device is the division of the movie into nine chapters and a prolog, with the chapter titles providing some setup to the coming scenes.
Combined with an incredible cast, including Philip Baker Hall, Lauren Bacall and Paul Bettany, revolving around the increasingly curious Nicole Kidman, the whole setup actually works. Lighting, sound, narration, and the sparse scenery always aid in setting up the mood. But it's the acting that cements the deal and sucks you into the story, which this film is all about. Dogville is dark study of morals and human nature, allowed to move along at just the right pace. There are some surprising degrees of brutality that show themselves in this film which my generally misanthropic self loves. In fact, it seems to center, almost from the beginning, on the never ending internal debate I have between my misanthropic side and the hopeful humanist.
Are communities better structures or is the individual? Is continued forgiveness an arrogance, a weakness, a strength? Is a small town of close neighbors better than a city? When one has time or means to actually get some things done for them that they want, instead of just getting through what they need, how does that affect their character? Is it avarice or something darker that cause people to go after or destroy someone open? Or is this just what we are?
...
Apparently, Dogville is part of a new trilogy for Von Trier. Next up: Manderlay.