Posted 2:36 PM by *cnn
Dogville
Danish director Lars Von Trier's much awaited new project Dogville arrived in front of me last week, just four days after its Australia-wide release. As reliable sources have told me, the movie has suffered in the initial box office receipts for failing to be 'sneaked' to the public before opening. The process of 'sneaking' a film entails telling everyone that it will open on Boxing Day [for example] and then going around to the dens of arts journalists, aspiring writers, student union hangouts and the like, and handing out free or discounted tickets to those 'in the know'. All this is in the hope that these people will create a buzz to envelope the film in a sort of 'oh my god, you haven't seen _____ yet? It's amazing', so that when the gates are opened the masses will swarm in, desperately eager to catch up to an imagined cultural elite. Like 'Lost in Translation', an excellent film no doubt, but one that opened on Boxing Day after already being projected onto screens approximately 200 times.

But Dogville, no 'sneaks', no brown nosing nor gimmick pulling, and the crowds don't want it...apparently. Maybe by not creating a buzz the film will slow boil, as people see it of their own volition and judge it accordingly.

Dogville is an interesting film to say the least. The action never leaves the small town of Dogville, which fugitive Grace (Nicole Kidman in her best performance yet, in my opinion) comes to, obstensibly seeking protection from gangsters. She immediately convinces Thomas Edison, a morally upright young philosopher, to bring her into the community to shelter her from danger. In return for this protection however, the quiet, law-abiding citizens of Dogville insist on a number of measures, meant to ensure she is symbolically 'paying her way'. An escalation of these dues makes for a peculiar tension, as it seems the town can have its way with her. I can say no more.

Playing out on a mostly bare stage, what is necessary to represent has been drawn onto the black floor in white chalk.

The details are filled in by a Dickens-esque narration that never slips from simply telling a story.

While not quite a Dogme 95 film, Dogville uses its limitations as a distinct selling point, a method by which to literally peel back the layers that hide our true identity, illuminating the facades individuals and communities hide behind.

One of my favourite films of 2003.