Dogville (2003)

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...

Director:

Lars von Trier

Writer:

Lars von Trier

Stars:

Nicole Kidman, Harriet Andersson, Lauren Bacall

13 wins & 20 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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

Storyline

Late one night, a beautiful and well-dressed young woman, Grace, arrives in the mountainous old mining town of Dogville as a fugitive; following the sound of gunshots in the distance which have been heard by Tom, the self-appointed moral spokesman for the town. Persuaded by Tom, the town agree to hide Grace, and in return she freely helps the locals. However, when the Sheriff from a neighbouring town posts a Missing notice, advertising a reward for revealing her whereabouts, the townsfolk require a better deal from Grace, in return for their silence; and when the Sheriff returns some weeks later with a Wanted poster, even though the citizens know her to be innocent of the false charges against her, the town's sense of goodness takes a sinister turn and the price of Grace's freedom becomes a workload and treatment akin to that of a slave. But Grace has a deadly secret that the townsfolk will eventually encounter.

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Plot Keywords:

town | secret | fugitive | sheriff | gangster | 

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Taglines:

A quiet little town not far from here.

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Genres:

Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence and sexual content

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [dk] Official site [es]

Country:

Denmark Sweden UK France Germany Netherlands Norway Finland Italy

Language:

English

Release Date:

21 May 2003 (France)

Also Known As:

The Film 'Dogville' as Told in Nine Chapters and a Prologue

Filming Locations:

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

Box Office

Budget:

DKK 83,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$88,855 (USA) (26 March 2004)

Gross:

$1,530,386 (USA) (11 June 2004)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Zentropa Entertainments, Isabella Films B.V., Something Else B.V.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

178 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Was a critics' favorite to win at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival, but received no prizes.

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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.

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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, and they liked their township. And while a sentimental soul from the East Coast had once dubbed their main street Elm Street, though no elm had ever cast its shadow in Dogville, they saw no reason to change anything. Most of the ...

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Crazy Credits

An official Danish, Swedish, British, French, German and Dutch co-production in accordance with the 1992 European Convention on Cinematographic Co-Production.

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Connections

Referenced in Dear Wendy (2004)

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Soundtracks

"America the Beautiful"
(uncredited)
Lyrics by Katharine Lee Bates
Music by Samuel A. Ward
Sung by residents of Dogville on July 4th

User Reviews

Are you shivering after seeing Dogville? I am.

This is probably the most shocking movie experience I've ever had, not only because of the emotional impact, but because this is truly a morally horror movie that gave me a slap in the face.

The movie is nonetheless one of the best moral tales ever told, in which Nicole Kidman and all the supporting cast shined. Why did the makers try to make it look incomplete? Why haven't they used more sophisticated production set rather than some made-believe structures directly exposing the film studio's interior environment to you? I didn't get it in the beginning, thinking that this might just be another pretending piece of crap that tried to be "artistic".

However as the story proceeded, the whole thing started to make senses. Featuring some of the best character study I've ever seen, the film naturally involved you into the adventure of Grace, the main protagonist who's supposedly to be despised so logically and naturally. Then, the audiences were forced into a game that the makers keep you guessing what would happen the next, until the very end.

The ending, which in my opinion, is the most shocking and frightening ending ever seen in a movie. Dogville is principally not a horror movie, but if one still have any conscience in him, he should stand the test the movie has given us. However, I chose to live with all the miseries happened to Grace and play along just like everyone else, "sh!t happens" as they say. This, has not only put me in shame but also freaked me out at the end. Considered the potential spoilers I would caused, I'd suggest you to see it for yourself.

With superb acting, very well plotted story and a shocking message for a senseless society, Dogville is easily a masterpiece.