Dogs in Town

Or why Dogville is the best film ever made.

Ending last week’s post about the rape in Nanking (click here) where I put into context that people are as good or as bad as the situation wants them to be; I’d like to pick up from there. There’s lots of interesting psychology and sociology literature on this topic and luckily (but not that often) art also picks up once in a while on this theme. Yesterday I saw the film Dogville (Lars von Trier, 2003) again. My favorite movie all-time without any doubt, and a picture that couldn’t reveal any more brilliant certain subtle evolving layers of some group confirmation, stigma, behavior and perception.

Apart from its unique Dogma95- and theatre-inspired presentation and setting, acting talent Nicole Kidman and its anti-Hollywood production in every possible way; this film is beyond universal truth as well I believe. And for all those reasons, a MUST-SEE. If the only thing you can think of by watching this, is that you’re up for 3 hours of entertainment-torture, please go back to your Transformers, Twilight or Jersey Shore corner of the room. And don’t return.

It’s always hard to review a movie as you know people who never have seen it might be reading (and for that your core target audience) and you don’t want to spoil the surprise for them. But then again, you’re writing this to share it with people that might never have heard of it before. So actually it’s hard for me to convince somebody here due I don’t want to ruin your experience watching it.

Dogville tells the story of Grace (Kidman) who is escaping a mob gang and searching for refuge in a very small, desolated mountain town named Dogville. In return for her hiding, she offers her services as physical labor for each inhabitant of whom all claim in the beginning “they don’t need any help”. As the story goes on, the perceived danger increases since police reports start to reach Dogville as they are in search for Grace. Slowly the people of Dogville start to change towards Grace and it doesn’t take long for the viewer to realize things can get out of control.

I think this picture is utterly brilliant as it shows in a very original way what might happen with very isolated small communities such as the town of Dogville. What happens when one person is perceived as the outsider in an isolated group of insiders? How far can groups go to protect an outsider risking their own face? How far do people go when they have somebody to work for them without any legal or formal regulations and restrictions? How strong is the power of one that thinks differently in the group and how long does it last? … etc.