..Gary Dretzka
..Noah Forrest
..Leonard Klady
..R.J. Matson
..David Poland
..Douglas Pratt
..Ray Pride
..Michael Wilmington

Dogville

Directed by Lars von Trier
Lions Gate Films

The radiant image of Nicole Kidman on the cover of the Dogville DVD, along with her name writ large over the title, surely will attract the attention of video-store browsers who’ve admired her fine work in The Hours, Eyes Wide Shut, Cold Mountain and Moulin Rouge! Some shoppers might even notice that the red-haired Aussie’s was joined in Lars von Trier’s film by such first-rate talents as Lauren Bacall, Patricia Clarkson, Jeremy Davies, Stellan Skarsgârd, Chloe Sevigny, James Caan and Ben Gazzara. With this cast of heavyweights, Dogville could be any kind of movie … certainly worth the price of a rental, at least. I wonder what on Earth they’ll make of the movie after about 10 minutes of it, though. Set in a quiet Rocky Mountains village during the Depression, the single stage on which Dogville plays out over the course of nearly three hours gives entirely new meaning to the word, austere.

Kidman plays Grace, a pretty young refugee from the city, who, we know, is on the lam from one sinister force or another. The townsfolk vote to shelter her from harm, for at least two weeks, in return for small favors. As more of Grace’s background is revealed to them, the citizens of Dogville become increasingly suspicious and fearful of their temporary guest, and demand more for their hospitality. Ultimately, of course, a mob-mentality sets in, and their true colors are revealed.

The cabal of critics at Cannes, who were sharply divided on the worth of Dogville, decided that Von Trier’s Brechtian re-working of Our Town ought to seen as a harsh commentary on America. Complicating the debate was the fact that Von Trier was condemning an America he’d never seen, because he’s chosen not to visit the country. The uproar didn’t last very long, however, as anyone with a brain could see that Dogville wasn’t going to make any money at the box office … so, why bother.

Removed by several months from this tempest in a teapot, I came to the DVD without prejudice, only the anxiety I always experience when three hours of my semi-precious time is at stake. What I saw reminded me of Steppenwolf Theater’s remarkable ensemble productions of Balm in Gilead and The Grapes of Wrath, and the Mark Taper Forum’s marathon staging of The Cider House Rules (an adaptation of the John Irving novel I thought succeeded more on stage than on 35mm film). At its best, Dogville merged the immediacy of live theater with the intimacy provided by a hand-held HD camera. At its worst, Dogville misled audiences and critics, who were expecting something quite different than the kinds of conceits students of theater generally take for granted. The only way it resembled a movie -- and a Dogma one, at that -- was the camera’s proximity to the actors, and several transitional shots from directly above spare stage and the wings.

My conclusion: Dogville is little more than an intriguingly filmed play, not unlike those produced in the ’70s by the American Film Theater; it is graced by some truly wonderful acting; it looks great on my new digital television; and I‘m pretty sure I would have fallen asleep, had I seen it in a theater. As for being anti-American, I doubt that bigotry, paranoia, ignorance, lust and greed are qualities unique to the small towns in the U.S. As for the debate itself, I think movie critics ought to see more theater. Like vegetables, it will be good for them.

-- Gary Dretzka