Release Date: March 26, 2004
MPAA Rating: R for violence and sexual content
Directed by: Lars von Trier
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Paul Bettany, Lauren Bacall, Harriet Andersson, Jean-Marc Barr

Plot:
The beautiful fugitive, Grace, arrives in the isolated township of Dogville on the run from a team of gangsters. With some encouragement from Tom, 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--so Dogville may regret it ever began to bare its sharpened teeth.

Review:
Its an odd world and odd little towns like Dogville are around more than you would think. Director Lars Von Tier releases a tale about a woman who is on the run from the mob. Interesting enough this little town is one of the most unusual and bizarre towns you can come across. Whys that? Well, doors, walls, bushes and many other things in this town are imaginary.

These objects are not actually visible by the audience, but they are visible to the characters in the movie. With such a creative look to the film, it keeps you intrigued of what odd things will occur in Dogville. The film also doesn't play like a typical movie. The film is told like a story tale from beginning to end with full detail on everything specifically.

Dogville is told with a voice over narration and it is divided into chapters just like a book. The fact that route is being taken with the film only makes it more of a reason to see how it all comes down. The credit for this film obviously goes to the solid script, as well as the direction. Both were by Lars Von Tier who is a well established Director and screenwriter.

The cinematography is not mind blowing in Dogville, but for the mood and small set it works perfectly. Part of what sets the mood is the camera movements, which at times doesn't cut but instead swerves from one person to another. When the film does call for editing it is very quick and sudden and entitled the film to progress with its story and characters for that matter.

The film stars Nicole Kidman and her character's name is Grace. With the film almost relying entirely on acting and dialogue, Nicole Kidman gets to show her talent and in Dogville she gives another one of her amazing performances. She's appealing on the screen and Paul Bettany who plays Tom Edison in the film seems to think so as well.

After being in the oscar nominated motion picture Master and Commander, Paul Bettany stars in Dogville and becomes a love interest to Grace. In a much better role, Bettany plays an innocent and shy man. Along with Kidman, they both interact well and by just noticing the facial expressions given at certain times, you can see the pleasure there is to have acting wise.

Dogville seems to get off to a slow start, but once it settles in you are basically glued to the screen. The characters draw you completely in awe with the situations that occur in the small nifty space. As you continue watching the film it slowly keeps grabbing you tighter and tighter and then emotions begin to kick in.

In its own right, Dogville is a very powerful and emotional film. When you get to witness these characters day in and day out, you end up being moved by each and everyone one of them. Not much environment at all and in a film the smaller something is sometimes is better. With Dogville Lars Von Tier takes creativity and originality to another level and makes something truly memorable.

Besides having a lasting appeal, this film amazes me on how in a town, the people can love you and enjoy your company, but the love can easily turn into hatred. It shows the reality and truth of such situations that can occur and those type of people can be titled hypocrites.

There is so much originality in Dogville and so little that was done, but the little that was done turns into a huge cinematic experience all on its own. The ending in Dogville is very affective and even assures its place as a great film even more. Lars couldn't have possibly made more of a jaw dropping ending for this little film and he certainly has my congratulations.

This film has great filmmaking, great actors and actresses, a great direction and tightly crafted script. In result, there is plenty of greatness to be seen while witnessing this film. Nicole Kidman acts beautifully and it is simply one of her best performances.

Dogville is a very original and engaging motion picture. The performances are all strong and Nicole Kidman has completed yet another project in which she shines beautifully. For a film that is filmed on one set and is three hours long, Dogville works on its own terms because it is simply stunning acting and great filmmaking. Simply put, Dogville is an amazing motion picture and reminds us how touching and realistic films can be.