Manderlay (2005)

A story of slavery, set in the southern U.S. in the 1930s.

Director:

Lars von Trier (as Lars Von Trier)

Writer:

Lars von Trier (as Lars Von Trier)

Stars:

Bryce Dallas Howard, Isaach De Bankolé, Danny Glover

1 win & 16 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Bryce Dallas Howard	...	Grace Margaret Mulligan
Isaach De Bankolé	...	Timothy
Danny Glover	...	Wilhelm
Willem Dafoe	...	Grace's Father
Michaël Abiteboul	...	Thomas
Lauren Bacall	...	Mam
Jean-Marc Barr	...	Mr. Robinsson
Geoffrey Bateman	...	Bertie
Virgile Bramly	...	Edward
Ruben Brinkman	...	Bingo
Doña Croll	...	Venus (as Dona Croll)
Jeremy Davies	...	Niels
Llewella Gideon	...	Victoria
Mona Hammond	...	Old Wilma
Ginny Holder	...	Elisabeth

Storyline

After gangster Mulligan's (Willem Dafoe's) cars colony, fleeing northern justice, finds a hiding place in Alabama, spoiled, naive daughter Grace (Bryce Dallas Howard) refuses to travel on after seeing the Manderlay cotton plantation being run under slavery rules, called Mam's (Lauren Bacall's) law, including flogging. She keeps half of dad's goons as guard to force the dying matriarch-owner's heirs, which she shamelessly dispossesses and reduces to "staff", to taste destitution under absurd, gun-imposed contracts. The "slaves" are made free partners, supposed to vote for progress after lessons from Grace. But almost all of her democracy-pupils prove to be fickle, dumb, and selfish, except old Wilhelm (Danny Glover). Her and their ignorance in Southern planting and crafty Dixie ways means more problems are created then solved. By the time dad returns to pick her up or abandon her for good, she's the one who has learned and changed the most.

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Plot Keywords:

male frontal nudity | female frontal nudity | male full frontal nudity | female full frontal nudity | pubic hair | 

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Taglines:

Liberation. Whether They Want It Or Not.

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

John C. Reilly was originally signed to play Dr. Hector, but was replaced by Zeljko Ivanek during production. A donkey was put to death while filming, and it was reported in the U.S. magazine Entertainment Weekly that this was what prompted Reilly to walk off the set, though he has never commented publicly on the incident, or his exact reasons for leaving this movie. Executive Producer Peter Aalbæk Jensen told Swedish media that "people should not be upset, instead they should think about the situation of the Third World." Since this movie was filmed in Sweden, they followed Swedish law, which says that animals can be put to death in movie productions, if a veterinarian is the one carrying out the killing. Writer and Director Lars von Trier cut the scene from this movie, which was attributed to protests from animal rights groups. von Trier said that he didn't want to draw attention away from the content of this movie.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Narrator: It was in the year of 1933, when Grace and her father were heading southward with their army of gangsters.

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Crazy Credits

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

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Connections

Featured in The Road to Manderlay (2005)

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Soundtracks

Young Americans
Written and Performed by David Bowie
Courtesy of RZO Music, Inc.
Published by Chrysalis Music Limited
EMI Music Publishing Limited / RZO Music Limited

User Reviews

Second part of a great trilogy

I won't disclose anything about the film. I liked it very it much, albeit slightly less than the first film, probably because, well, the first was very fresh and innovative in the way it presented this "theatrical" world and partly because of the shocking and raw power of the story of "Dogville". In "Manderlay" we also meet with hypocrisy and cruelty, but the movie moves on a different level than "Dogville". It is clearly more philosophical-political, it carries a more visible political agenda. It also relies upon dialogue more than "Dogville" did and of course the symbolism and allegory of the first film are present here, as well. Still, the movie is a masterpiece, in the same way "Dogville" was. Of course, someone can think otherwise (not to mention those people that will accuse Trier of being "Anti-American"), but having a different opinion about it is okay and acceptable. Personally, I can't wait to see how the trilogy is going to conclude.

Details

Country:

Denmark Sweden Netherlands France Germany UK Italy USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 June 2005 (Denmark)

Also Known As:

The Film 'Manderlay' as Told in Eight Straight Chapters

Filming Locations:

Denmark

Box Office

Budget:

$14,200,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$15,117, 29 January 2006

Gross USA:

$78,378

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$674,918

Company Credits

Production Co:

Zentropa Entertainments, Isabella Films B.V., Manderlay

Technical Specs

Runtime:

139 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1