Jason C
Reviewer

      In three mesmerizing hours, Lars Von Trier constructs an emotional masterpiece.
 
      In three measly seconds, Von Trier figuratively toppled an empire and ruined any chance “Dogville” had of receiving mass critical praise in America.
 
      In the 1990s, Von Trier co-founded the Dogma 95 movement, which demanded that filmmakers stop using artificial means and remain submerged in reality throughout their films. No added lighting, makeup or sound effects were allowed in the productions. However, only “The Celebration” succeeded critically and the movement was quickly scrapped. Von Trier’s “Dogville” comes now as a full-fledged slap in the face to the Dogma movement.
 
      To call the film’s scenery bare would be like calling Jessica Simpson unintelligent: an understatement of dramatic proportions. In this film, the actors live within a town constructed through chalk lines drawn on the floor of a factory warehouse. There are no doors, but when characters reach for a handle, a sound effect is still heard. Very few props clutter this minimalistic town and even night and day are only shown with white or black backdrops to the scenes. Yet this simplicity allows the film’s emotions and strong character analyses to run paramount to any special effects or tricks that could take away from core plot lines in modern films.
 
      This is a fable of the Great Depression in a small town called Dogville. When a drifter (Nicole Kidman) arrives in the town, she begs a local philosopher (Paul Bettany) to hide her from gangsters and soon becomes the slave to the town. The film’s atmosphere might be reminiscent of the classic play “Our Town”, but only if “Our Town” juxtaposed rape scenes with its core Midwestern values. As the woman relies more and more on the town (and police continue to ask about her), her debt for their generosity rapidly skyrockets until she is no longer treated as a human. She becomes the victim of torment and torture, and the kind little people of Dogville begin to show their dark sides. And this is where Von Trier’s big mouth got this brilliant film in trouble.
 
      At film festivals, Von Trier announced that this film is anti-American and that the evil seen in the townspeople is analogous to America’s evil and controlling ways in modern events. However, audiences hopefully don’t get pigeonholed into this point. Dogville could be any town in any country of the world. The phrase “Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely” applies to this town as it does to all people, not just flag-waving Americans.
 
      The bulk of “Dogville” encapsulates how the townspeople accept the woman into their ways while also exploiting her in any way possible. The supporting cast is one of the greatest in film history. Actors such as Lauren Bacall, James Caan, Patricia Clarkson and Chloe Sevigny take their turns to stand up and be judged by the viewers. As each character becomes more defined through each passing scene, audiences will become transfixed with this powerful epic that will not only make them wonder about the true nature of evil in the world, but ask whether they themselves would act in the same devastating ways if given absolute power.