Customer Reviews

Dear Wendy

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I was so excited to get caught up with "Dear Wendy," a film by two major filmmakers who I have enjoyed in the past. Bringing together writer Lars von Trier and director Thomas Vinterberg to tell a parable about a serious topic like guns sounded like a great idea. Vinterberg directed one of my all time favorite tales of family dysfunction, The Celebration, while von Trier is responsible for two films that I regard as absolutely brilliant (although they are loathed by many)--Dogville and Dancer in the Dark. Dear Wendy, at first glance, would seem to have much in common with von Trier's other works--particularly Dogville. That film eschewed conventional storytelling devices and employed a theatricality, an artificialness, to achieve a higher and profound result. Written in the same style, however, Dear Wendy lacks the dramatic heft and simply comes across as theatrical and artificial.

Dear Wendy is penned as a fable and an indictment of America's obsession with firearms. Wendy, in this case, is a pistol that is beloved by the main protagonist played by Jamie Bell. I have admired Bell in his challenging film choices and I can see why this film appealed to his sensibilities as an actor. Ultimately, though, the awkward script provides little chance for any of the actors to connect with the material in a relevant or believable way. The film is narrated in a love letter written by Bell to his gun and is one of the most stilted and pretentious voice-overs you're likely to encounter. Now, I realize this story is not meant to be believable--it's a parable. While I admire filmmakers with a unique vision willing to work against expectations, Dear Wendy ends up being so preposterous and so heavy handed that I lost all good will I might otherwise have had for this bizarre picture.

Set in a small unnamed mining town, Bell falls in love with a gun. Joining forces with other teenaged misfits, they form a club called the Dandies. These kids proclaim themselves to be pacifists that love guns. In a series of over-the-top rituals, they marry their weapons and parade around town in costume. Every moment in Dear Wendy is done in such excess, it becomes increasingly hard to take anything seriously. There are constant references to gangs that people live in fear of, but the town is one square block and the only people represented are miners, the Dandies, and the sheriff department led by Bill Pullman. The dramatic high point in Dear Wendy comes when a woman, who's deathly afraid of gangs, is guarded by the Dandies as she attempts to visit a friend who lives one building away. I could outline many plot points, and even more over-the-top excesses, but the plot is not really what this is all about.

An absolute misfire on every level, I can't recommend Dear Wendy. Even as an oddity, I found it lacking any real charm, message or redeeming value. I still love von Trier, I still love Vinterberg--but this film did nothing for me--artistically, dramatically or intellectually. Try it for something unique--but in this case, different doesn't necessarily translate to good. KGHarris, 01/07.

Dear Wendy is a very interesting movie with good acting and a plot that has you fixed on the screen. The acting is authentic and believable. I enjoyed the story line and all in all it's a good movie for something different.

Quirky, weird and with a odd westernish feel this is not the normal teen movie. It is weird and has this strange detached feel to it but as far as a work of art goes, I couldnt be happier with it. For a movie with action, drama or romance go elsewhere. It is more art and entertainment and is essentially a look through a european spy glass into the american obsession with guns and maybe even the american spirit at large.

I think DEAR WENDY requires different point of views and offers several interpretations. I guess we all share some kinda fascination for fire arms. It doesn't mean we disklike the existence of fire arms and their destructive power. Lars von Trier loves guns, he's a fire arm fanatic (I was told) and it becomes a bit obvious when you watch the interview on the DVD. So the film is a bit like a personal investigation, examining the fascination for fire arms in context to naturally disliking the use of it.

When compared to Moore's quasi-Documentation BOWLING FOR COLUMBINE you could say that it's not the fear that drives people to have fire arms but rather lack of self-confidence. The weapon literally becomes your friend and as with a good friend it's easier to walk along strangers and look them in their eyes. That's the result for the hero in this film. Only to carry the gun unseen by the others serves enough to make him able to walk straight and not feel like a complete loser. An experience that he begins to share with a friend. When they sorta think they have the proof that this simple thing actually works, they don't want to keep it to themselves as it would be "a shame not to share it with others". So next thing they do is builing a little group of so-called "Dandies" who worship their guns by the restriction not to use it and show it elsewhere but in their hideout.

It's very confusing later on, as I didn't quiet "get" what the thing about Sebastian was. He's black, and his grandmother used to serve in the hero's house years ago. As soon as Sebastian is part of the show, his grandmother is as well, triggering a really unpredictable plot point that, as a consequence, seems to force the dandies to break the roules and awaken their guns. Is there a message behind this? I know some people who think black people have more violant potential, and those would clap their hands at the end of the film. I see a bit of a risk there. Additionally, I don't see why it is the killer's grandma who gets them into the real trouble. It's interesting and entertaining, and confusing.

Maybe the movie wants to tell us that a fire weapon cannot be misused for anything else but destruction. In the context of the actual world situation (Iraq etc.), it seems plausible. But generally, it's not really true.

However, I thought the film was very interesting. Maybe I should give it less stars as some critical points are very unclear to me. But nah, It's a recommondation for sure.

Jamie Bell stars in "Dear Wendy" an intriguing treatise on America's fascination with guns that was written by Lars Von Trier and directed by Thomas Vinterberg. Bell plays Dickey, a timid young man who lives in a small mining town called Electric Park. Dickey considers himself a pacifist, and he and his group of misfit friends feel threatened in their rough-and-tumble town. So they seek "moral support" from carrying guns, with the understanding that they never use their guns except within the confines of the ramshackle meeting house, which is replete with an underground shooting range. The teens become lost in a fantasy world where they become old-fashioned "dandies" with their own code and theme song. Or something along those lines in this very offbeat and at times plain odd film.

Lars Von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg are two of the developers of Dogme 95 - a school of filmmaking that eschews artifice in favor of naturalism. Vinterberg directed the first film in this genre, the acclaimed "The Celebration," although his work since then has been largely criticized. Von Trier loves writing films that are critical of American violence and culture, such as "Dogville" and its sequel "Manderlay." His writing with "Dear Wendy" is typically pretentious and likely to turn off some viewers and perhaps make some angry. We Americans prefer our cultural criticism to be homebred and bristle when it comes from pasty-skinned Scandinavian socialists.

I don't usually enjoy pretentious indie films, but "Dear Wendy" and indeed much of Von Trier's work appeals to me because of its sheer audaciousness. I am, for example, a big fan of "Dogville" and "Dancer in the Dark." However, "Dear Wendy" could have benefitted from being even more grandiose and over-the-top; instead, it ends up being a bit tepid for this genre. Nevertheless, I did enjoy it on some level, and Jamie Bell is very good here, in yet another very offbeat role for the Brit.

If u like indie pix with a unique point of view u will love this movie.

Though Thomas Vinterberg says in his interview with one Japanese paper that the film is "not solely aimed at America," "Dear Wendy" would evoke various responses from the audiences with one central topic in it. It is a very controversial one - guns in America, and the script is written by Lars von Trier, Danish director who did `Dogville' and `Dancer in the Dark.' Lars von Trier gave this script to Thomas Vinterberg (`Celebration'), another Danish director, and one of the founders of `Dogme 95,' experimental method of making films. (But here he discarded most of its rules. Yes, you can hear soudtrack music.)

The film is shot in Denmark and Germany, but the story is set in America. The time is not specified, but the characters are living in a small coal-mining town. Though the many scenes are shot outdoors, the town is represented by a small-scale set with a square and rows of houses, which reminds us of the minimalist approach of `Dogville.'

In this town we meet young teenage Americans - Dick (Jamie Bell), Stevie (Mark Webber), Susan (Alison Pill), Huey (Chris Owen), and Freddie (Michael Angarano). They are kind of `outsiders' of the community, but when Dick finds a gun at Susan's toyshop, things start to change because, as it turns out, the old-fashioned gun is a real one.

Naming his gun Wendy, Dick forms a group with other four. It is called The Dandies, `pacifists with guns,' spending their time in a disused factory to cement the bond, learning and practicing the weapons in Three Musketeers-Meets-Young Guns costumes. After brief peaceful period, however, troubles occur. First, a slight one, and then, a much bigger and serious one.

[PARABLE ON GUNS] It might be pointless to criticize on the grounds that the film's story is unrealistic. Neither is it fair to point out that Lars von Trier has never visited America. `Dear Wendy' is a parable, and should be seen as such. When Bill Pullman appears as a sheriff who speaks with a heavy accent, his character represents one type. Some scenes (like descriptions of a ricocheting bullet) look cartoon-ish, but they are intentional.

But director Vinterberg, it seems, is not equal to the ambitious idea in the script. The events depicted in `Dear Wendy' especially in the second half looks rather silly, and its argument is confused. Look how the Dandies get into troubles, and you know what I mean. Twice black people appear - Sebastian (Danso Gordon) and Clarabelle (Novella Nelson), and twice they bring disorder to the group and the town. And we see no other black people. What does this mean? Is there any meaning behind that casting, or just coincidence (or should I call it clueless)? Or how about the first mission of The Dandies? Their self-appointed business is to `escort' the old lady Clarabelle who is so afraid of the world outside that she cannot even cross the square while the town itself always looks very sleepy? Does this mean fear comes from inside? But what does that have to do with the young protagonist Dick's monologues about his love for Wendy, his gun?

If Lars von Trier had directed the film with his highly (and meticulously) stylish touch, which is seen in such films as `Zentropa,' things might have been different. Vinterberg has surely his own styles, and the photography is good, but they are neither experimental nor orthodox enough. He introduces us brief nudity (yes, Ms. Pill's) while we don't need it (do we?), knowing that the film is about something else; the film uses many pop songs of the 60s British group The Zombies (the music is great) while an American sheriff casually uses cell phone. And Dick declares he is an `American Boy' while, you know, Jamie Bell is born in England.

The film is well-acted, and some insightful moments and tension at gunfight, but they are buried among the confusion caused by the weak and uncertain direction. If only Lars von Trier himself did the job.

I'm in film school and after watching this movie I've decided not to become a screenwriter.
The script is perfectly connected. Great story and an amazing imagination of Lars Von Trier! And needless to speak about Thomas' direction! The movie is intelligently directed.
I'm a huge fan of Lars Von Trier. And Lars and Thomas deserves all my compliments and reverence for this movie.
I watched it at the movie theater during Rio International Film Festival and I left the theater crying, proud and happy.
It's incredible when a movie makes you feel like this.

It's an strange movie. Wendy is a small gun. The main character Dick brought it for a birthday gift for a peer but decides to keep it. Later, he finds out it's a real gun by a co-worker and together get into shooting guns. Then they form a club with the other young people like themselves, timid and introverted. They call themselves the Dandies. All of them see themselves non-violent but get confidence from their guns. The Dandies relate to their guns as if they had a soul or personality. As you can guess, this movie doesn't have a happy ending.

If you are looking for something different, you might like this. It will get you pondering about America's relationship with guns and the culture around it. There was something about this film that got me thinking about the Columbine killers.

This is a good film about guns and the STRONG drawing power they have for a punch of teens who are self proclaimed pacifist.



One thing becomes another and next thing there is a big shootout with guns blazing, these youngsters eventually becoming victims of one form or another to the volence which they advocate against.


Good film which could be shown in classrooms