Skip to main content

Dogville (2003)

Friday, April 10, 2009

Dogville. Feature film. (2003, 177 mins) IMDB

...it'd be hard to point out another film that is this different...

A

play made into a film complete with a stage set except this film was never a play. It was written directly for film. Go figure.

From Lauren Becall to Patricia Clarkson to Nicole Kidman, there is a large, large cast with familiar faces. Too many to count.

All that and it's one of the strangest films I've ever seen without any question.

The film was shot in Sweden but it could have been shot in any country that has a large building with open spaces. Imagine a football field under a roof.

How this film was ever made with this cast amazes me.

I read Bettany didn't want to work in the film but changed his mind when his friend Stellan Skarsgård, who has worked with director Von Tier before, told him it would be fun. Half-way during the shooting, Bettany asked when the fun would begin. Skarsgård had lied to him in order to get him involved. I can relate. I read the DVD synopsis of this film without knowing anything more. I was duped as well.

I'm not sure what else to say about this film because it reminds me of a Beckett play with a plot yet the story line in this film is surreal and Beckett would have been a whole lot better. Maybe that's the point. The entire film seems surreal. From the one set used in this film (imagine a film, and three hours no less, with just one set) to a large cast who at the end of shooting wonder what to do that evening in Sweden.

See. I'm talking so much about things outside of the film I obviously didn't think much of it and I don't.

Hey. I lived and worked in Sweden. I've been to Denmark a number of times. I have nothing against them, but I didn't like this film. Baby Zeus, I tried.

Posted 2009/04/10 at 20h14ET in Movie Commentary.

Labels:
Reactions:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Bedtime Stories (2008)

Thursday, May 14, 2009 Bedtime Stories. Feature film. (2008, 99 mins) IMDB...a tame comedy that results in few laughs... There's the young Adam Sandler as a boy living with his sister in a small hotel in LA. His father owns and operates it. Sandler helps out. The dream of father and son is for the son to take over some day except there's a problem. The father isn't a very good manager and the place isn't making enough money. Enter the villain to buy it off him. The villain being a Mr. Hilton type who is able to turn lead into gold. Fast forward twenty years or so. The hotel is a large, thriving business, but for Sandler, instead of owning it or even managing it, he's the custodian who repairs broken dishwashers and replaces burnt-out light bulbs. The promise by the villain to put him in charge was either forgotten or ignored. Enter his estranged sister. She's a health freak with two young children. The father left a long time ago. Part of the humour…
Post a Comment
Read more

Words: Fairy—Ferry

Thursday, September 6, 2012
A homonym.
FAIRY—A fairy tale. A fairy godmother. Fairy—not a long, long way to run.
FERRY—A boat or ship to transport drunken Swedes back home from Copenhagen. It’s the Danish beer.
Fairy Ferry Samantha the Swimming Fairy by Daisy Meadows Evening Ferry by Katherine Towler
Posted 2012/09/06 at 5h02ET in Words, Writing.
Post a Comment
Read more

Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2003)

Tuesday, June 2, 2009 Once Upon a Time in Mexico. Feature film. (2003, 102 mins) IMDB...do you like lots of gunfire?... The guitar player is back at it. This time there's no mistaken identity. He's wanted by the CIA to help with a coup or to stop a coup. It's never very clear to me, but it doesn't matter. The plot is oh so involved with many players. There's the president and his back-stabbing advisor. There's the CIA. The FBI. The drug cartel and fractions within it. There's also the Mexican army and a certain General. And of course there's El Mariachi and his men. The plot doesn't matter. It's an excuse to put action sequences on screen. In this case it's scenes where our hero is attacked and out numbered and he has to shot his way out of every situation. Bullets fly like rice on a wedding day. It's guns and guns and more guns. The most interesting aspect of this film? The making of it. Many of the things done on scree…
Post a Comment
Read more