Props to Benjamin for starting this tribe.

Saw Dogville in Paris too and it had so much buzz surruonding it that it was great to see it in the theater which was packed.

I loved it and was completely driven by the performances and the punch at the end.

But what happened in the states? Not even Kidman's star power could bring in (poor marketing and venue monopoly i say) the crowds. The second time seeing it I saw it much more as a comeday AND was not bored in the least by its 3+ hour running time. Everyone who saw it that night was at least blown away, wheter they liked it or not is a different story.

Great critique of America.

force people to watch a lars von trier movie?

isn't that what the scumbag americans did to torture the iraqi prisoners?

The first 20 minutes of Dogville seemed to promise an unbearably tedious and oppressive experience. I considered walking out, which is something I believe taboo and do not often consider.

Luckily, I was soon riveted. This is surprisingly von Trier's most visually beautiful film since his pre-Dogme days. Still, I was not sure if I liked the film, as I was pulled in both directions throughout and could not decide whether or not I liked it until about a half hour after the film ended.

I think it's a great film, but I'm not sure on what terms. I found myself agreeing with both the good reviews and the bad reviews (the best of which is by David Edelstein of Slate). Collectively, the heroines of von Trier's last three major films, have suffered every kind of inhumanity imaginable. I think it's very possible that some of von Trier's motivations in making Breaking the Waves, Dancer in the Dark, and Dogville -- all of which are almost identically structured in their sadism against a central female character who represents a certain purity --- might be less than pure. Edelstein suggests that von Trier might be getting off on the humiliation/degradation of an actress as glamorous as Kidman, and the same could go for Bjork in Dancer in the Dark. If this is the case, it would make von Trier as morally hypocritical as the characters and communities he is condemning with his films.

There's no denying, though, that Dogville is rousing (maybe rabble-rousing) and makes an impact both cinematically and cerebrally. If it is without subtlety, it is not without intelligence, and praise is due to any serious-minded film that gets people thinking and talking, even if that film is directed by Mel Gibson.

Amber, do you honestly think that everyone you know will understand Dogville or what you're trying to do by forcing them to watch it? I know a bunch of people whom I'd not dream of advising to see Dogville, because I know they wouldn't see any value in it nor any value in discussing it.

If it's your aim to shake some people from their scary cocoons of blind patriotism, it can't really be done, but there *are* more effective films with which to do so. (Dogville really takes it over-the-top, and one could argue that its criticisms could apply to any society.) Most of them, however, are documentaries. Lately, The Trials of Henry Kissinger, The Fog of War and Super Size Me are excellent examples of films that can rattle the cages of fence-sitting fair-weather patriots who are tired of Michael Moore, and while Dancer in the Dark is also way over-the-top, I think it's a more straightforward and effective depiction of what could be perceived as America's twisted values. So is House of Sand and Fog.