“Einstein Idiot Reviews” is a series designed to give you, the mainstream fan, the information you need to help you decide for yourself whether or not you will enjoy the movie. This is a consideration “the critics” typically overlook. Films reviewed here are usually somewhat older ones you and I may originally have missed, now available at bargain rental rates. For Einsteins and Idiots–and aren’t we all a little of both?
“Dogville” could be clumsily renamed after three other productions: “Our Town” is “Twin Peaks” and We Hosted “The Godfather.” But be warned. This 2003 release is not really a movie. It’s more of a filmed play, and nothing on the DVD jacket gives you the slightest hint. It is nearly three hours long. The first hour is gratuitously dull. The second hour is gratuitously vulgar. And the third is gratuitously disturbing.
The blurb on the box made it all sound interesting. A beautiful woman (Kidman), for mysterious reasons, suddenly stumbles into a dead porta-pot of a town, appropriately named “Dogville.” (My son has a three-legged pit bull named Crazy, whose canine dignity would be offended by this title.) The woman is apparently trying to escape distant gunfire. Her high society looks, fur-collared coat, and exotic accent are quite a contrast to the mumbling, shuffling, dreary band of about twenty citizens who comprise the population of what they euphemistically call a “town.” She is afraid, says she is being hunted but won’t say why, and asks the town for secret sanctuary.
In spite of the unknown but real risks for doing this, Dogville agrees to hide her. In return, they want her to work for each of them, let them get to know her, and then they will take another vote to decide whether she can stay longer. The stakes begin to rise when a smooth talking, powerful man is chauffeured in and says his daughter is missing and he’d pay them handsomely if they could help him find her. With the visits of increasingly more powerful persons, the risks and the tension keep rising. The ending, which will make you reevaluate everything you thought you knew about the characters, is a stunner. No, it’s really more like the gradual peeling of a piece of duct tape off a scab–slow and agonizing.
When I say this is a filmed play, I mean the entire town is on the stage all the time, the buildings are identified with black chalk descriptions, there is a bare miminum of props and no scenery, and there are absolutely no special effects except for the sounds of invisible doors being opened and closed.
Dreary, like Dogville. And dull, especially if you were prepared to sit down to a real movie.
Most movies adapted from plays have fantastic dialogue and no need for the crutches of special effects. This one needs some crutches. (So will you, if you watch it all at one sitting.) Interesting dialogue wouldn’t have hurt it, either. One good thing–it does have a plot. And the acting is superb. I would think it takes considerable talent to be boring on purpose.
Christopher T. Bryan’s review gives this movie more credit than I think it deserves, writing of grand social themes that have been much more clearly explored in numerous other films. He, too, noted the similarities with Oscar Wilde’s “Our Town,” but he maintains that the minimalist scenery allows the viewer to focus more on the characters. I personally found this distracting rather than focusing. When Kidman climbs onto an egg crate cardboard “mountain” I lost a few lines of dialogue while thinking, “What is that? Egg crates?” I suspect most other viewers will too. But by all means, check out Bryan’s review and get a second opinion.Â
This film won all kinds of prestigious awards including Cannes and Toronto Film Festival. It is an intelligent movie, and I usually love intelligent movies. But this one bogs down in its own gray matter. It’s the kind of show that professional critics feel obligated, unconsciously perhaps, to praise so their peers won’t think they are unsophisticated. Seeing an innocent child murdered by an expressionless killer is not my idea of either entertainment or brilliant film making. Nor did it expand my cultural horizons to watch some despicable critin’s bare glutes heaving during a particularly ugly rape scene. But to the director’s credit, the assault was not exploited for perverted titillation. It just makes you want to crawl naked through a carwash.
Regarding the producer, Lars von Trier is an undeniable genius. His series “The Kingdom” is a much more focused, fascinating, compelling, quirky, darkly humorous, mysterious, and yes, entertaining piece of work. If you are a fan of his, check out anything else he’s done except “Dogville.”Â
You Einsteins out there are going to say that I don’t get it. I think you’re right. But that’s not the point. Most other viewers won’t get it either. The DVD box makes this look like a nice, suspenseful MOVIE with some famous actors in it, maybe 10 I.Q. points higher than “Speed.” That would be a setup for disappointment. But if you ignored this at the store because of that misconception, take another look. Â
I can see this as a show that would be enjoyed by college students in highly urban rock music and arts havens like Austin, Seattle, and Chicago. If you can spell “cinema connoisseur” and consider yourself to be one, this could be a keeper. If you are a pseudo-intellectual, you will love this, because it’s easy to follow and you can brag to everyone that you saw it. If you are bored by most foreign movies, are a practical person with a daily to-do list, want to be entertained, or you like fast-paced, glitzy dramas or comedies, forget it. If you are the kind of person who thinks Barney Fife’s girlfriend, Thelma Lou, would be your dream date, you will regard this production as a dreadful waste of time and an attack on your sensibilities.Â
Do you like heartwarming and profound classics like “Our Town”? Then forget this, and check out “Bambi.” Were you a “Twin Peaks” fan? You just might love this. “The Godfather”? Then this is way, way, too dull. If you like weird, unpredictable stuff slowly fed to you one small teaspoon at a time; and if you have a cast iron butt–you could wind up sitting through “Dogville” twice. It seemed like that kind of show. The kind that, if you are patient and brilliant, you might want to start again from the beginning, just to see precisely how it led to the ending. But three hours was two too many for me. I’d much rather spend six hours with Crazy in the doghouse.
(2003, directed by Lars von Trier. Also starring Laruen Bacall, James Caan, John Hurt, Stellan Skarsgard, Patricia Clarkson, Jeremy Davies, Philip Baker Hall, Ben Gazzara, Harriet Anderson Anderson, Blair Brown, Chloe Sevigny, and Miles Purinton.)Â
7 users commented in " Einstein Idiot Reviews: “DOGVILLE” Starring Nicole Kidman, Paul Bettany "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackI rented this movie because I’m a fan of Nicole Kidman’s. I had no idea what I was getting into and when I started the movie I was a bit perplexed. But I kept watching…and watching…and watching. It was like a car accident on the highway, you wanted to stop looking but you couldn’t. I was getting more and more frustrated watching Kidman’s character, wondering why she was letting things progress the way they were – and getting downright pissed at the townfolks. But I have to say, the ending will shock and possibly delight you. I was cheering and laughing at the end – you go girl!! After reading this, I think I rent it again – just for fun!!
Goldenlady–Thanks for your feedback. You’ve provided another interesting perspective to help people decide whether they want to see this, which is the whole point of these reviews. Appreciate you taking the time to share your views with all of us. –Mark Mercer
This film is truly one that you either love or hate. Personally I love it, but can understand why some people would intensely detest this film.
That being said, I urge readers to watch this film. Regardless of your opinions about it, I can guarantee that you will have an opinion about it. After recommending it to one of my friends, also a film buff, he called me in an outrage, asking why I had recommended this to him. We ended up discussing the film intensely for about 2 hours and my friend admitted that while he didn’t like the film, he was glad he’d seen it.
It’s not an enjoyable film, but it is an interesting one. If you brace yourself and let the film carry you, I think you will find it compelling and rather powerful. It is a bleak picture of humanity, shown to us in its barest sense- a true work of art.
Sorry, one more comment. In your review, you mention the performances are good (and then rather backhandedly say that it takes skill to be this boring.)
The performances in this movie are exceptional. The grotesque characters (reminiscent of Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson) are incredibly well defined. I was especially impressed with the young actor who played the character Jason, a boy who convinces Nicole Kidman to spank him as part of a retaliation. It is rare to find a child actor able to handle such dark material, and he comes across positively wicked. Also, Ben Gazzara’s performance is remarkable, and ranges from touching to disturbing. Zjelko Ivanek, Stellan Skarsgaard, Patricia Clarkson, James Caan, Paul Bettany, and of course Nicole Kidman, the list of remarkable performances goes on and on. Every character and every actor is given their moment in the spotlight. The actors all come out favorably, the characters not so much.
I must say I wasn’t a big fan of Chloe Sevigny, but I often think she’s overrated. Still, excellent performances, certainly one of the best ensemble casts in recent years.
Mark,
Your review was 10 times more entertaining than this dreary film. I had the “honor” of being at the US premiere of this film at the telluride film festival. When I told some fellow writers who had seen it at Cannes that I was excited to see the movie, they looked at me like I had just escaped from the loony bin. 3 hours later, I understood why.
Mark
First, the order of things: we watched Dogville, then,searching for an answer to what had happened to us, we read your review.
What a great review. We feel like we wrote it ourselves, except of course we didn’t. We just managed to complain about virtually everything you mentioned, only less articulately. We were in fact fooled by the DVD case exactly as you said. Bottom line: great assessment and hilarious.
You need to review movies for a living. More exactly, my wife and I need for you to review them, and you need to be able to make a living at it.
Thanks!
Barry and Christine Phillips
Quentin Tarintino said that he believes Lars Von Triers would have won a Pulitzer Prize if it was a stage production.
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