DOGVILLE is a movie written and directed by the Danish director Lars von Trier in 2003.
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Pursued by bad guys coming from the city, Grace Margaret Mulligan finally arrives in Dogville, a small mining town lost in the mountains. There, she first makes the acquaintance of Tom Edison, a would-be writer who desperately tries to elevate the moral level of his fellow citizens. After having heard Grace's story, Tom asks the population of Dogville to hide Grace and give her protection. The citizens reluctantly accept but only for a two weeks period.
During this period, Grace will do everything she can to please the citizens of Dogville. She will work and help the whole population in its everyday life. The citizens accept then to extend the period of protection. After the police come a few times looking for Grace and announced to the town that she's in fact a criminal on the run, the people's behaviour towards Grace changes little by little. They start to ask more from Grace. Finally, in order not to be delivered to the police, she will agree to be raped by the men of the town and suffer the hate and the disdain of the women.
The review of this Movie prepared by Daniel Staebler
Tom, who is considered to be a thinker and philosopher of sorts among the local townspeople, is wandering around at night when he hears gunshots. Some time later, a dog barks, announcing the presence of an approaching figure. She's a mysterious woman, lost and frightened, and the town soon learns that - for some unknown reason - gangsters are looking for her.
Tom asks the woman, whose name is Grace, to stick around. After a trial period of two weeks, the town will vote on whether she can stay with them permanently. Grace tries to make herself as useful as possible, doing kind favors for all the families. She and Tom also get closer and begin to fall in love. In two weeks time, the town votes that she can stay.
All the while, the gangsters have been putting up Wanted posters for Grace, and though the town is initially protective of her, they soon begin to take advantage of her helplessness. The men rape her, the women and children degrade and take advantage of her. She cannot escape. And Tom proves himself to be pretty weak - he doesn't defend her at all, and is even upset with himself for being the only man in town who has not yet had sex with her. Frustrated, he decides to turn her in to the gangsters... and that's when her true identity is found out, with gruesome repercussions.
Dogville is a really disturbing movie; what's more, it's filmed on a very spare backdrop, a vast stage without too many props, so that the characters and their actions stand out all the more starkly.
The review of this Movie prepared by Esther
