Product Details

• Actors: Nicole Kidman, Paul Bettany, Lauren Bacall, Harriet Andersson, Jean-Marc Barr
• Directors: Lars von Trier
• Writers: Lars von Trier
• Producers: Anja Grafers, Bettina Brokemper, Els Vandevorst, Gillian Berrie, Jonas Frederiksen
• Format: PAL
• Language: English
• Region: Region 2 (Read more about DVD formats.)
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Run Time: 178 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (226 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00029QXAK
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #584,773 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Dogville" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

The latest galvanizing and controversial film from Lars von Trier (Dancer in the Dark, Breaking the Waves, The Kingdom), Dogville uses ingenious theatricality to tell the Depression-era story of Grace (Nicole Kidman, The Others), a beautiful fugitive who stumbles onto a tiny town in the Rocky Mountains. Spurred on by Tom (Paul Bettany, Master and Commander), who fancies himself the town's moral guide, the citizens of Dogville first resist Grace, then embrace her, then resent and torment her--little realizing they will pay a price for their selfish brutality. The town is indicated by fragments of building and chalk outlines on a soundstage floor, stylishly pointing to the movie's roots in classic plays (particularly Thornton Wilder's Our Town and Friedrich Durrenmatt's The Visit). Several critics have stridently attacked Dogville as anti-American, but the movie's dark, compelling view applies as easily to Rwanda, Bosnia, the Middle East, or pretty much anywhere in the world. Also featuring Lauren Bacall, Patricia Clarkson, Jeremy Davies, Stellan Skarsgârd, Chloe Sevigny, and many more. --Bret Fetzer

From The New Yorker

Pedantic, obtuse, and unwatchable, this three-hour exercise in inept avant-gardism, written and directed by Lars Von Trier, is set in a town without walls, streets, or air-a conceptual Depression-era nowheresville in the American Rockies in which obvious allegories of conformity and viciousness are acted out by a cast reciting an inhuman language into the dead silence. We might be present at a nightmarish school play. With Nicole Kidman as the poor waif who eventually takes her revenge, Paul Bettany as a weak-willed artist, and a variety of other excellent actors submitting to Von Trier's solemnly stupid rituals of betrayal. The pompous narrator is John Hurt, who sounds like Henry Fielding wishing he had a tankard in his hand. -David Denby
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

132 of 151 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars LONG BUT WORTH IT (AND IT'S NOT ANTI-AMERICAN!), April 3, 2004

By 

Shashank Tripathi (Gadabout) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Von Trier has never been to America and has been known to have said that he is afraid to visit the U.S. With this in mind, it seems a little audacious if not viciously self-indulgent to make a film about the ugliness of human nature set in an American village.

Critics have pounced on this feature of the movie, accusing von Trier of anti-Americanism. I feel such paranoid jibes completely miss the point: although Dogville is set in a fictional village in the Rockies during the Depression-era, it really could be any place, any time. It is anti-human-ugliness. The tagline reads "A quiet little town not far from here", and the sparse stage set reinforces that point. The viewer's imagination is meant to fill in the gaps, making Dogville their home town for nearly three hours.

The theme veers around Grace (Nicole Kidman) arrives, seeking shelter from pursuing gangsters, the natives are reluctant to help. With the assistance of a local 'philosopher' (played by Paul Bettany), she eventually persuades the inhabitants to relent, and they grant her a two week trial period. During the fortnight, she manages to win the villagers over by performing good deeds, but gradually they begin to take advantage of her kindness and the rot sets in.

This is an extremely long film, but it is definitely worth the effort. It is an allegory of staggering proportions, it deals with virtually every aspect of humanity and some of the most fundamental questions people can face, whilst maintaining a lightness of touch that makes the mental workout more than bearable. Did it have to be 3 hours? No. But nor did the Matrix or LOTR or the Titanic.

So empty the tank, order a pizza and coke, and settle down for 180 minutes of cinematic genius.

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Disturbing and Brilliant...Most Unique Film I Have Ever Seen, December 1, 2005

By 

Rebecca Papin "Literary Connoisseur" (Paris, France) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dogville (DVD)

I've gone back and forth between thinking that this film is incredibly sick and incredibly brilliant. I still can't make up my mind, so all I can say is that is the most unique film I have ever seen: a very sick and amazing film, showing the darkness of the human heart when there are no rules to protect its victim. It starts out very slow, but gets good after 30 minutes (it is nearly 3 hours long). The violence of this film surpasses Pulp Fiction, but in a much more subtle way (if I was to say any more I would give the whole film away). The symbolism is worthy of analysis...a film student could write for days about what they see in this film...and afterwards, your mind will be racing and trying to make sense of it all. This is, in my opinion, the best work Nicole Kidman has ever done.

15 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very different film, October 20, 2004

By 

R. Koehn "compulsive shopper" (Seattle, WA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Dogville (DVD)

I knew that this film was not traditional before seeing it, but I didn't know how non-traditional it actually was. At first, the minimalist set was jarring, but eventually my imagination filled in everything else and I was used to it. In fact, it really made me focus on the characters and not space out by watching the scenery or focusing on some small detail on the set.

As far as the story goes, I don't claim to have understood all the subtext or the commentary it was making on American life, but I still enjoyed it. Probably like others who have seen it, I was rooting for Grace to take her revenge, but when she did I felt a little guilty for having wished it.

I guess that was part of the point of the film - we all have a little Dogville in us.