jackburden Review of Dogville

Dogville (2003)

Must be in mood for most minimal cinematic production value ever

[4/10 · 22 August 2005]

The plot summaries for this movie say that it's shot entirely in studio, etc, but they don't make it clear that this is probably the most minimal movie production from a major director in the last 30 years (or my lifetime anyway). I don't think it's a spoiler to say that most of the set pieces and buildings aren't actually present, but rather represented by chalk outlines. I felt like I was watching a Ionesco play at the Theatre de la Huchette in Paris, not a Nicole Kidman movie in America. Needless to say, I found it a bit grating. However, despite how much I disliked the ham-fisted devices (or lack thereof) in this movie, I still give it a 4 (as opposed to a 1) for the fact that it did indeed produce extremely memorable moments involving Apples, gangsters, farm trucks, and headlights. You may end up hating this movie, but you won't ever forget it.