Great! a fan!
so Law, what do you think Grace’s motives are?
I think Grace was at first just seeking escape from unpleasant bourgeois life, only to unwittingly stumble upon a prejudiced small town. There, she tries to prove her worth on her own but ultimately, the forces of prejudice leave her unsuccessful and makes her realise that she wants to return to a comfortable life that she thinks can only be achieved by escaping the town.
To my mind, von Trier’s best film. I’m definitely considering it among the best of the decade.
I can’t see any film that the script even compares to in our decade..?
This is on-par with the precision of Chinatown.
LAW, i’m not so sure it’s that simple. Granted Grace wanted to escape her domineering father & happened upon Dogville, tries it out, & then wants to leave. But those aren’t really motives.
Once she arrives, her motive seems to be to first keep Tom Edison on her good side, then to keep the guise of the good-natured girl for the whole town, but as the film progresses so does her resentment of the town, in her desperation she is taken advantage of in every possible way, & their actions lead her to a new motive, of revenge.
Even that is really just a brief retelling of the script.
I wonder what Grace really wants out of life.
She resents the security her father offers, yet relies on it.
Yet if we look to Manderlay, her character has a duality of wanting to help others, but also craves control.
Messianic Theory as simple as that, works every time. But this was already discussed in another thread.
To be honest, Neh, I’m not a huge fan of the film. I’m not a huge Von Trier fan either, but I recognize his obvious talent especially on a technical level. Dogville for me though doesn’t really do anything new nor does it attempt to approach originality. The fact that the setup and general thrust of the story itself is a blend of Brecht (as many critics have mentioned before) and is more like a tribute to that style is admirable, but not much else. It’s the style that really grabs the audience I think, not necessarily the story itself. It’s a simple story, crafted as out of Aesop’s fables or a parable from the Bible, which shows the darkness and selfishness in the heart of man and the emptiness of revenge under the guise of justice.
As far as scripts go, I’d say it’s definitely one of Von Trier’s best and perhaps one of the best of the decade. The script is the high-point of the film and would be the only thing that can redeem it from Von Trier’s ho-hum direction.
There’s also the aspect of the “black box” theatrical depiction of the environment which, conceptually, is rather nice, but Von Trier shoots it in such a lethargic way that it’s completely uninspired and simply remains as a nice idea that just doesn’t fit (nor is it really necessary – would a regular small town setting be too distracting? The story isn’t that complex – I highly doubt that was the reason). Instead, more logical (and less laborious) reasoning behind the staging would be that it emphasizes one of Von Trier’s seemingly favourite themes – artifice. Once again though, Bergman did this to much greater effect by jarring the audience back and forth from the “fourth wall” such as in Persona – this was much more effective than staging the entire film around a bare set. I have no qualms with the reasoning behind it necessarily, but why go to such an over-the-top extreme when a simple pan of the camera (as Bergman was fond of doing) would suffice? Von Trier’s use of sound effects and lighting is rather clever, but once again it’s like he’s peddling backwards when going forward would’ve been more economical and effective.
I would also add that it is rather unfortunate that Dogville lost the Palme ‘dOr to Van Sant’s Elephant (also a rather good film, but not quite on the level of Dogville).
Moderated
NE1
DOGVILLE
Lars von Trier
A beautiful woman in trouble.
A charming fool too busy thinking to write.
A township recognizing its advantages.
Three hours.
Ten chapters.
Twenty talented actors.
Hundreds of chalk-outlines.
One sound-stage. One dog.
And one of the most brilliant screenplays ever produced.
Dogville is, without a doubt, a masterpiece of modern cinema.
My question for all those who appreciate it, is:
What are Grace’s true motives?
What does Grace really want out of life?
…Security? …Freedom? …Power?