Dogville (2003)

Director:

Lars von Trier

Writer:

Lars von Trier (written by)

Release Date:

21 May 2003 (Belgium)

Genre:

Drama | Thriller | Mystery

Tagline:

A quiet little town not far from here.

Plot:

A woman on the run from the mob is reluctantly accepted in a small Colorado town. In exchange, she agrees to work for them. As a search visits town, she finds out that their support has a price. Yet her dangerous secret is never far away...

Plot Keywords:

Part Of Trilogy | Parable | Mass Child Killing | Black Comedy | Dead Children

Awards:

13 wins & 19 nominations

Cast

Nicole Kidman	...	Grace Margaret Mulligan
Harriet Andersson	...	Gloria
Lauren Bacall	...	Ma Ginger
Jean-Marc Barr	...	The Man with the Big Hat
Paul Bettany	...	Tom Edison
Blair Brown	...	Mrs. Henson
James Caan	...	The Big Man
Patricia Clarkson	...	Vera
Jeremy Davies	...	Bill Henson
Ben Gazzara	...	Jack McKay
Philip Baker Hall	...	Tom Edison Sr.
Thom Hoffman	...	Gangster
Siobhan Fallon	...	Martha (as Siobhan Fallon Hogan)
John Hurt	...	Narrator (voice)
Zeljko Ivanek	...	Ben

Also Known As:

Dogville (France)
U - Der Film 'Dogville' erzählt in neun Kapiteln und einem Prolog. (Germany)

MPAA:

Rated R for violence and sexual content.

Runtime:

178 min | Australia:138 min | Italy:135 min

Country:

Denmark | Sweden | Norway | Finland | UK | France | Germany | Netherlands

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Iceland:14 (theatrical rating) | Iceland:16 (video rating) | Singapore:PG (video rating) (cut) | Italy:T (re-rating) (2004) | Malaysia:U (DVD) | Norway:11 | Brazil:16 | Argentina:16 | Australia:MA | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14A (Ontario) | Canada:18A (Alberta/British Columbia) | Denmark:11 | Finland:K-15 | France:-12 | Germany:12 | Hong Kong:IIB | Ireland:15 | Italy:VM14 | Japan:R-15 | Netherlands:12 | New Zealand:R13 | Portugal:M/16 | Singapore:R(A) | South Korea:18 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Film i Väst, Nohab Industrial Estate, Trollhättan, Västra Götalands län, Sweden

Company:

Zentropa Entertainments

Trivia:

A fifteen-minute pilot film was made in the pre-production phase to test whether the concept of chalk lines and spare scenery would work. The pilot starred Danish actors Sidse Babett Knudsen and Nikolaj Lie Kaas. Dogville: The Pilot (2003) (V) is featured on the 2nd disc of the Dogville (2003) DVD, released in November of 2003.

Goofs:

Incorrectly regarded as goofs: Many continuity issues (hats on/off in alternating shots etc) are entirely deliberate. There are a large number of quick cuts throughout the film which serve to disorientate and confuse the viewer. The continuity in these cases is never precise and is as much a part of the final film as the script.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Narrator: This is the sad tale of the township of Dogville. Dogville was in the Rocky Mountains in the US of A, up here where the road came to its definitive end, near the entrance to the old abandoned silver mine. The residents of Dogville were good honest folks...

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in "Muchachada nui: (#1.11)" (2007)

Soundtrack:

Young Americans

One of the bravest observations on the truth of humanity

I started watching Dogsville and felt like turning it off.. after all, what kind of movie could occur with no scenery? No doors.. it seemed like some sort of play/movie hybrid but after a shortwhile all those things faded away until I realized how much I would have missed if I had turned it off - it is now one of my favourite movies of all time.

Why? It is so brave to criticse humanity like this and admit just how 'dark' a race we truly are - not matter how much each of us profess to being 'good', we all know that most of us are anything but. Through this movie you see a woman who learns the cold harsh truth in a place where she expected to find the goodness that her faith told her existed. And then on not finding it, discovered that even within her lay a wrath that echoed the darkness that she herself wished did not feature so dominant in our race. And the biggest test of this is to observe your own emotions throughout this movie until what you feel at the end as perfect evidence...

I honestly believe those people that don't believe what this movie is expressing needs to take a cold hard look around them. And if they still don't believe, they are just like the people in this movie - unwilling to see the truth and coming up with excuses and reasons when nothing justifies the horrible world we live in.

A true masterpiece - one of the few pure pieces of art in cinema with amazing acting from Nicole Kidman especially, and the lack of a set causes you to be immersed in the characters like no other movie. And its 'them' and human nature that is the focus. Will leave you thinking and astounded (unless you don't like to think and can't watch a movie that isn't afraid to do something unique, in which case there a countless movies for 'you').