dogville

I'm arriving extremely late on this one, but wanted to rave about Lars von Trier's Dogville, which I finally saw last night. Above all, von Trier shows his wide, all-encompassing ambition, thematically taking on gossip, violence, labor, exploitation, religion, small-town Americana, on and on. An amazing piece of work.

von Trier dismisses ethos, seeming almost giddy about opening himself up to critique. The American press likes to point out that von Trier's never set foot on American soil yet fancies himself qualified to comment on Americana. Little wonder he uses the 'everything but the kitchen sink' approach in Dogville. If you're going to offer an audacious look at our psyche, then you may as well spel audacious with a capital A.

Similarly, von Trier enters into a bombastic relationship with his audience. He provokes, prods, and challenges. Ok. Lots of directors do. But von Trier doesn't seem to like his audience. He has no desire to make us like him. He actively tries to alienate. I'm reminded of the twenty-minute cover of "Sister Ray" that Joy Division used to perform at their shows.

Indulgent? Yeah, that's kind of the point.