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Dogville (2003)

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Movie review

From Time Out Film Guide

Ambitious, intriguing but fatally self-important account of how an archetypal small town in the Rockies, proud of its ethics, turns against a woman (Kidman) apparently on the run from a gangster, notwithstanding the efforts of a free thinking liberal (Bettany). As a study in the social, psychological and philosophical dimensions of hypocrisy and intolerance, it pounds home its somewhat obvious points. As an exercise in Brechtian distanciation - there's a narration, with echoes of Thornton Wilder, beautifully intoned by John Hurt, and it's all shot in a studio empty of everything except a few basic props - it's gimmicky and never brought to a fruitful conclusion. And as drama it's repetitive and overlong. That said, the performances are strong, and the final scene, with its Capone the Father and Christ the Daughter associations equating the Land of Freedom with Sodom and Gomorrah, has an infectiously wicked glee that almost redeems the preceding portentousness.

Author: GA

Time Out Film Guide

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User reviews of this film

John Cooper said...

Posted on Jul 10 2011 13:32 Despite its debt to Brectian theatre, this would make an extremely good play:; . .unfortunately it falls short
of the mark as a film . . . . .. There's no doubting
the sincerity and artistry of Lars Von Trier's parody
of Christian redemption, and there's no doubting
the acting talent of the principals Kidman and Bettany
and the eminently `listenable` narrative by John Hurt but
with its 3 hour length, this is tough going for the cinema
audience. Cinematic innovation is not enough to carry
the day . .. . That said, there's much to admire in
a project which eschews cinematic entertainment in
favour of an intelligent ` morality` tale which is not afraid to infuse its religious themes with challenging
ironies and post-modernist question marks. It certainly has impact .. and it made me think .. .. but , I don't think I could sit through it again.
.

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