Dogville takes a bite

1) Dogville (directed by Lars Von Trier): Rating 8.5/10

What a strange movie Dogville is! First off the three hour long movie is shot on a stage like fake set, with chalk lines outlining houses, boundaries, streets and even a dog. There are some doors, a bell, a curtain, a fake mountain, wooden beams depicting a coal mine, and a window or two. Once you get beyond the stage like atmosphere, you start sinking into the movie. That is unless you have left the theatre or switched the tv off already.
What is the story? The entire drama takes place in a fictitious tiny American town of Dogville, a town of about 15 people, where nothing ever happens. The coal mine was shut down long ago and the people go about their daily lives with mixed emotions. And then one day, Grace (Nicole Kidman) enters the town. She is on the run from a mobster and is given shelter by Tom Edison Junior (Paul Bettany). Tom takes a liking to Grace and manages to convince the rest of the town folk to let stay. At first, the town folk are hesitant, but eventually grow to like her. They find a use for her, and end up burdening her with extra work. And with time, the town folk start abusing Grace’s kindness to fulfill their own pleasures – the men find her as a sexual outlet, the women as a scorn of hate, etc. The entire human behaviour spectrum is shown in the cycle of the movie – at first the town folk fear the stranger, then they like the stranger and find a use for the stranger, then the use turns to misuse, and then they are back to fearing and disliking the stranger. Finally the stranger is considered more worthless than a dog and chained. All throughout the movie, Grace tries to remain calm and considers the town folk as human. Yet, when things finally reach a dead end, Grace unleashes her wrath.

So why is this movie so hated? Most American critics slammed this movie as being ‘anti-American’. That is the most absurd criticism of this movie as there is nothing Anti-American in this movie. This story could have taken place in any city in any country in the World. The raw emotions and human behavior in the story as so basic that they transcend national boundaries. The acting is what keeps this movie interesting. If the acting was not up to par, then this movie would have been painful to watch. What about the fake sets? Well after a while, it does not matter. The movie is like a theatre stage play, and the set design is not really much of an issue.

My real problem with the movie is the final 20 minutes. Near the end, when Grace finally meets the mobster again, the scene is so poorly written that it is a disappointment. If there was any scene which should have been strongest, it should have been that final confrontation. But for some reason, Von Trier brought out tired and boring dialogues for that scene. And the ending was not totally unexpected. There was no other direction the movie could have taken. My only other question is what if Grace was not on the run from a mobster? What is no mobster came back to get her? How would have she have survived? I think by using a gangster element in the story, Von Trier got out of answering a tough question. His movie might have been much more haunting if Grace was left to remain like a ‘dog’. None the less, this is a movie unlike any other.

2) Killer’s Kiss (1955 movie directed by Stanley Kubrick):

I was looking forward to seeing this movie but due to time restrictions I could not finish this film noir. The start didn’t look too bad but I will have to wait another day.

Some festival movies:

3) Noise (directed by Tony Spiridakis): Rating 8.5/10

This is a neat little independent thriller. A recently divorced woman (Trish Goff) moves into a quiet apartment complex to start a new life. However, she soon discovers that the only other person living in the building is quite a noisy neighbour. Her neighbour plays loud music beyond 4 am, and Joyce can’t get any sleep. So she goes up and leaves a note underneath the noisy neighbour’s door. The next day, the neighbour Charlotte (Ally Sheedy) pays Joyce a visit and apologizes. But after a little quiet, Charlotte returns to her old ways. Joyce starts going crazy, and tries to hatch a plan to quieten Charlotte. However, the plan backfires and Charlotte becomes more noisy. Charlotte takes revenge in getting Joyce fired from her job and combined with the noise, Joyce’s life starts falling apart. She takes to drinking and is heading for disaster, until a twist manages to turn things around. The end comes as a shock but given the dark undertone of this movie, it is not unexpected.

4) EMR (directed and written by James Erskine, Danny McCullough): Rating 7/10

An independent conspiracy theory movie from the UK! Adam is a conspiracy theory buff and one day finds his life turned upside down. He wakes up to find himself in Mexico with stitches on the side of his body (playing on the Kidney stolen myths) and after running around, faints and awakens back in London. He wakes up alternatively in San Francisco and London with no idea what is happening to him. The movie contains all the common urban myths and various conspiracy theories but the movie is not fast paced or very polished. Still it is worthy for a watch!

5) In the Shoes of the Dragon (Documentary directed by Hronn Sveinsdottir and Arni Sveinsson):

Rating: Technical quality of the movie (3/10), Movie Merit (9/10)

This is a wicked movie! Unfortunately I have to rate this differently. The movie has terrible cinematography and editing yet the underlying story is worthy. Hronn decides to enter Miss Iceland 2000 to show how fake beauty pageants are. She plans to film the entire thing but realizes it would be difficult to participate and make a movie at the same time. So she gets the help of Arni to handle the camera. However, neither people are professional film-makers and that shows in the camera work. That being said, the story behind Miss Iceland is very interesting. Hronn soon finds herself caught up in the contest and her personality changes right before the camera – she goes from an easy going person to a mean spirited person. Ofcourse, every person has mean parts to their personality but the movie shows how a competitive environment nourishes her evil side more than her sweetness. Overall, her expressions and vibrant personality make this a fun documentary.

Notes: Iceland is a country of less than 300,000 people (approx. 293,000) yet they have produced three Miss World’s in the last 4 decades. Claudia Schiffer is invited to crown Miss Iceland 2000 and the reigning Miss World from 1999 (Miss India) also makes an appearance.