SwimFinsSF

Dictum ac Factum

Kevin and I went and saw “Dogville” last night. It was REALLY good…. A little long (ok a LOT long - 3 hours and 10 minutes or so) and it feels at least that long but well worth it. The production was really interesting - they staged the whole thing more like a play than a movie. The plot was set in a small town in the rockies however the set was essentially a large sound stage with the outlines of houses painted on the floor and minimal furniture and other things. The whole goal seemed to be to make you focus on the characters, the narrator, and the human interactions without being distracted by other things.

However the more important part was the plot and the message. The movie centers around a small town who adopts a woman who is a fugitive and the interactions surrounding them agreeing to protect her from her pursuers. I don’t want to go into too much detail at the risk of blowing it for others. But I HIGHLY recommend the movie and would be interested to hear what other people’s perceptions of the message were.

Summary from IMDB:

The beautiful fugitive, Grace (Nicole Kidman), arrives in the isolated township of Dogville on the run from a team of gangsters. With some encouragement from Tom (Paul Bettany), the self-appointed town spokesman, the little community agrees to hide her and in return, Grace agrees to work for them. However, when a search sets in, the people of Dogville demand a better deal in exchange for the risk of harbouring poor Grace and she learns the hard way that in this town, goodness is relative. But Grace has a secret and it is a dangerous one. Dogville may regret it ever began to bare its teeth…