[Kristoffer]

Okay just saw this in Denmark, tonight. What can I say? It's a masterpiece, that stays in your head a long time after...especially the

Spoiler:

climatic ending

Its about the small town in America called Dogville. Here a young girl named Grace ( Kidman ) seeks refurge from some gangsters. Now to be able to stay she has to work for the people in the town. From here on it is just a moral decline for the citizen of Dogville....
The special "thing" about the movie is that there are no sets. Everything is drawn with a white line on the black floor to illustrate the houses of the town. The dog is drawn, but barks like a dog. The sun is a lamp and so is the moon. This sounds wired but it works and the actor's really shine! Nicole Kidman, Lauren Bacall, and the tv presenter from Magnolia ( forgot his name..)
The film is told with a voice-over and is divided into chapters. This combined with Moral questions makes this feel a little like a Kubrick film.
The music is very good and makes the seem very Epic even thiug it isn't!!
The other good thing about this film is that is doesn't use its sounds, lighting and cameras to manipulate you into feeling something. This a small problem in Dancer in the dark in my opinion! Here the people and actor's makes you feel.
This is the first film in a trilogy.
Go see it when it comes out in your countries respectably.
Kris

[Kristoffer]

What happend to all the replys??

[Seth Paxton]

Must be lost in the freaking database crash. Even my question post is gone too. That sucks.

[Guy_K]

Does this have a tragic ending like Dancer in the Dark?

[Jean-Michel]

It doesn't end like Dancer in the Dark (or Breaking the Waves). I don't know if the ending is "tragic" or not. Could go either way depending on how it's handled -- I haven't seen it, but I had the ending SPOILED for me by a newspaper article

[Kristoffer]

It's more shocking than tragic actually...

[Seth Paxton]

Kristoffer,

back to my Caligari question that was lost along with everything else. Have you seen Cabient of Dr. Caligari and if so then how do you compare the art direction in the two films since it sounds like the methods are at least similar?

[Kristoffer]

Sorry I am not familar with it.

[Matt_P]

I thought I'd resurrect this thread, and try to get some new discussion going.

I had the pleasure of seeing this film in Copenhagen a few months ago. It is definately astounding--an exhausting near 3 hour ride through the depths of human failings

Spoiler:

and the decline of morality that results.

The performances are what make this film so powerful. Von Trier, in a style that is technically non-Dogma, yet extremely Dogma, strips the film of the visual distractions of sets and creates a unique, sterile stage environment that can be completely controlled (some may actually find this more distracting than acutal sets), and characters can be allowed to flourish. However, this choice becomes acceptable and invisible to the viewer when one gets into the story. A powerful, must see film when it hits the US in 2004.

I also got to be a fly on the wall during a casual meeting between Von Trier and some colleagues at the National Museum in Copenhagen. They were in a public eating area, discussing something in Danish, and looking at what appeared to be storyboards. I didn't get to meet him, but it was pretty neat to see.

BTW, the production design is not angular and abstract like Warm's designs in Caligari. There are fragments of buildings and furniture, but basically, design is minimal. It's simply a black stage with labels and outlines on the floor.

[Brook K]

Continues to be highly anticipated by me, but I've heard Lion's Gate is going to slash the US release by something like 40m. A DVD has just come available from Denmark, so I may have to go that route.

[Nick C.]

one thing I noted was odd, as Matt mentions, was how it seemed Dogme 95 was abandoned to various degrees in this flick, from the staged sets, to the external sound, narration, lighting, yet because of the minimalism, the focus was drawn towards the characters and their psychology, so I'd guess end justifies the means in achieving Dogme objectives. the length really allowed time for the

Spoiler:

moral decay

to properly develop

agreed with Kristoffer, pretty spectacular acting all the way through, and not showy at all--Kidman's role as pauper was remarkably reminescent of that in 'The Human Stain'

I recall in recent interviews Kidman has no plans of participating in the rest of the trilogy, that the Cannes press briefing agreement was in jest

[Matt_P]

Well put, Nick.

I hope Lions Gate is not cutting the film!!!! WHY?!!?!


That would be a tragedy, pure and simple.

If they do, let's hope the Region 1 dvd will have the complete cut.