Today I watched Dogville in a Danish cinema, but I did not know what to expect before I went to the cinema.
I was aware of the way the town was build with the chalk lines, and I was very sceptical. I am not a big Lars von Trier-fan, even though I have seen several of his works like Riget (The Kingdom) and Idioterne.
The whole town was one big scene, where chalk lines marked the houses, and the furniture in the buildings is there for a reason. Things which are not important for the movie have been let out, so the audience do not get distracted and focus on the wrong things. It is a bit hard in the beginning to watch people opening doors which are not there, but you get used to it after about a half to one hour.
When you only have one big scene, then the acting is very important to keep the movie going, and the acting is really superb. I cannot say anything bad about the acting, all the actors really did a great job. Most noticeable is of course the acting by Nicole Kidman, but there are also a lot of really experienced actors like James Caan, Philip Baker Hall and Lauren Bacall. The rest of the cast are also really good actors, I would like to give them all some credit.
Visually it is also a successful movie, it is really a great view, when you are watching the town from the overview camera. There are also different times of the year, and you can see from the environment what time of the year it is, once more a point where the movie has been successful.
Those were the positive things, there are also some negative things about this movie. I have to admit that the movie was maybe a bit too long, there were some periods where I felt that nothing really happened. The movie also failed to make me feel real bad or sad, I just sat and watched the cruelty without being touched that much, some more music might have helped the atmosphere.
One of the things the movie has been criticized for is that it was an attack against USA. I am not anti-American, and I still did enjoy watching the lives of the people in the streets. Lars von Trier will surely try to send some messages with this movie, and I think it is healthy - you have the choice to agree or disagree.
Dogville was an interesting intellectual movie, and it makes you think about several things. I would like to recommend it, but I do not see it as a master piece, so I will give it 7/10.
I was aware of the way the town was build with the chalk lines, and I was very sceptical. I am not a big Lars von Trier-fan, even though I have seen several of his works like Riget (The Kingdom) and Idioterne.
The whole town was one big scene, where chalk lines marked the houses, and the furniture in the buildings is there for a reason. Things which are not important for the movie have been let out, so the audience do not get distracted and focus on the wrong things. It is a bit hard in the beginning to watch people opening doors which are not there, but you get used to it after about a half to one hour.
When you only have one big scene, then the acting is very important to keep the movie going, and the acting is really superb. I cannot say anything bad about the acting, all the actors really did a great job. Most noticeable is of course the acting by Nicole Kidman, but there are also a lot of really experienced actors like James Caan, Philip Baker Hall and Lauren Bacall. The rest of the cast are also really good actors, I would like to give them all some credit.
Visually it is also a successful movie, it is really a great view, when you are watching the town from the overview camera. There are also different times of the year, and you can see from the environment what time of the year it is, once more a point where the movie has been successful.
Those were the positive things, there are also some negative things about this movie. I have to admit that the movie was maybe a bit too long, there were some periods where I felt that nothing really happened. The movie also failed to make me feel real bad or sad, I just sat and watched the cruelty without being touched that much, some more music might have helped the atmosphere.
One of the things the movie has been criticized for is that it was an attack against USA. I am not anti-American, and I still did enjoy watching the lives of the people in the streets. Lars von Trier will surely try to send some messages with this movie, and I think it is healthy - you have the choice to agree or disagree.
Dogville was an interesting intellectual movie, and it makes you think about several things. I would like to recommend it, but I do not see it as a master piece, so I will give it 7/10.