Dogville
Stream
A woman on the run from the mob is reluctantly accepted in a small Colorado community in exchange for labor, but when a search visits the town, she learns that their support has a price.
What critics thought
Von Trier's bare-stage allegory divided critics sharply on release: admirers called it a bold and original masterpiece, while detractors found its stripped-down conceit quickly exhausted and its vision of humanity coldly contemptuous. Time has been kinder than the initial reception — it now ranks among canonical best-of-decade lists — but the charge of misanthropy has never fully gone away, and the gap between passionate champions and firm rejectors remains the defining fact about the film.
“For passion, originality, and sustained chutzpah, this austere allegory of failed Christian charity and Old Testament payback is von Trier's strongest movie—a masterpiece, in fact.”
J. Hoberman·The Village Voice
“the director "presumably wants us to attend to his characters' yearnings and prejudices without the distractions of period furnishings. It's a brilliant idea, for about 10 minutes. Then the bare set is elbowed out of a viewer's mind by the threadbare plot and characterizations.”
Richard Corliss·Time
“There's no denying von Trier is visually intriguing. ... But as an artist, his contempt for humanity is becoming harder to hide with stylistic flourish.”
Sean Axmaker·Seattle Post-Intelligencer
“a potent parable of human suffering.”
Scott Foundas·LA Weekly
“Dogville, in a didactic and politicised stage tradition, is a great play that shows a deep understanding of human beings as they really are.”
Alan Morrison·Empire
Accolades
Parents guide
- Violence
- moderate
- Sex
- moderate
- Profanity
- mild
- Substances
- mild
- Intensity
- severe
Genres
Crime, Drama
Cast & Crew
Lars von TrierDirector
Nicole KidmanGrace Margaret Mulligan
Paul BettanyTom Edison
John HurtNarrator (voice)
Stellan SkarsgårdChuck
Philip Baker HallTom Edison Sr.
Patricia ClarksonVera
Ben GazzaraJack McKay
Chloë SevignyLiz Henson
Siobhan Fallon HoganMartha
James CaanThe Big Man
Blair BrownMrs. Henson
Željko IvanekBen
Anthony Dod MantleCinematographyDogville
A woman on the run from the mob is reluctantly accepted in a small Colorado community in exchange for labor, but when a search visits the town, she learns that their support has a price.
What critics thought
Von Trier's bare-stage allegory divided critics sharply on release: admirers called it a bold and original masterpiece, while detractors found its stripped-down conceit quickly exhausted and its vision of humanity coldly contemptuous. Time has been kinder than the initial reception — it now ranks among canonical best-of-decade lists — but the charge of misanthropy has never fully gone away, and the gap between passionate champions and firm rejectors remains the defining fact about the film.
“For passion, originality, and sustained chutzpah, this austere allegory of failed Christian charity and Old Testament payback is von Trier's strongest movie—a masterpiece, in fact.”
J. Hoberman·The Village Voice
“the director "presumably wants us to attend to his characters' yearnings and prejudices without the distractions of period furnishings. It's a brilliant idea, for about 10 minutes. Then the bare set is elbowed out of a viewer's mind by the threadbare plot and characterizations.”
Richard Corliss·Time
“There's no denying von Trier is visually intriguing. ... But as an artist, his contempt for humanity is becoming harder to hide with stylistic flourish.”
Sean Axmaker·Seattle Post-Intelligencer
“a potent parable of human suffering.”
Scott Foundas·LA Weekly
“Dogville, in a didactic and politicised stage tradition, is a great play that shows a deep understanding of human beings as they really are.”
Alan Morrison·Empire
Accolades
Parents guide
- Violence
- moderate
- Sex
- moderate
- Profanity
- mild
- Substances
- mild
- Intensity
- severe
Genres
Crime, Drama
Cast & Crew
Lars von TrierDirectorNicole KidmanGrace Margaret MulliganPaul BettanyTom EdisonJohn HurtNarrator (voice)Stellan SkarsgårdChuckPhilip Baker HallTom Edison Sr.Patricia ClarksonVeraBen GazzaraJack McKayChloë SevignyLiz HensonSiobhan Fallon HoganMarthaJames CaanThe Big ManBlair BrownMrs. HensonŽeljko IvanekBenAnthony Dod MantleCinematographyStream