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Directed by Lars von Trier...
...these terms, a Lars von Trier movie is a dream-nightmare come true. And Nicole Kidman, who not only endured but also apparently savored her 17-month incarceration while making Stanley Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut, is just the actress to see directorial fiat as a fast car worth strapping herself into. The result of this fascinating collision is Dogville, for which the notoriously kooky Danish auteur lured a distinguished cast to Scandinavia (he refuses to fly) so they could pretend to be in an American town in the 1930s...
Which town? Our Town. Von Trier asserts his intention to rethink the classic Thornton Wilder play with his film's magnificent first shot: an overhead view of a nearly bare stage set, with Dogville's properties and props designated by painted lines. The old mine down the road is identified by a sign reading OLD MINE. A townsman closes an invisible door and we hear a slamming noise. Von Trier presumably wants us to attend to his characters' yearnings and prejudices without the distractions of period furnishings...
...brilliant idea, for about 10 minutes. Then the bare set is elbowed out of a viewer's mind by the threadbare plot and characterizations. Into this town of ostensibly decent folk comes a fugitive named Grace (Kidman), a familiar Von Trier heroine-victim, like the ones played by Emily Watson in Breaking the Waves and Bjork in Dancer in the Dark. Grace is the beneficiary of the townspeople's Christian charity, then the victim of their envy, malice, lies and sadism. She stoically endures a spate of abuse nearly as long and relentless as Jesus' in the Mel Gibson gospel...
...Bitsy von Guildentrapp '04 and Morgan E. Winston '05 met in the Garage just before break to discuss plans for the Bee’s Social Action committee, which they co-chair. Over a light lunch of carrot sticks and rice, the pair decided that if they can’t buy a house in the Square, they should move to a more plausible course of action. They rejected the idea of using the funds to buy a yacht instead due to rumors that Sabliere Society was purchasing a small raft. "They won't exactly be making waves," Winston said...