Dogville
Short description
Set in the United States during the Great Depression, Dogville follows Grace, a young woman fleeing a gang of criminals. She arrives in the isolated mountain town of Dogville, where Tom, a resident who takes on the role of community spokesman, persuades the townspeople to shelter her. Their agreement is conditional: Grace must work for the residents in return for her hiding place. The arrangement holds for a time, but when a wanted notice puts the town under scrutiny, the people of Dogville demand more from Grace to offset the risk they are taking. What begins as an act of charity turns into something harsher, and Grace keeps a secret of her own.
Lars von Trier wrote and directed the film, the eighth of the seventeen features he has directed in chronological order, arriving between Dancer in the Dark and Manderlay. Nicole Kidman plays Grace, with Paul Bettany as Tom, John Hurt providing narration, and Stellan Skarsgård, Philip Baker Hall and Patricia Clarkson among the credited cast of forty-four. The production, mounted by a group of European companies, had a budget of about 10 million dollars and took roughly 17 million dollars worldwide.
On IMDb it holds 8 out of 10 from around 168,000 votes, and on TMDB 7.7 out of 10 from a much smaller body of votes, while a critics' rating stands at 7.4 out of 10 from 163 reviews.
What's left behind the scenes
- "Dogville" is the first film in a trilogy by the director, which he called "USA: Land of Opportunities." "Manderlay" (2005) is the second part of this trilogy.
- "Dogville" was a critics' favorite after its screening at the Cannes Film Festival, but ultimately did not receive any awards.
- Nicole Kidman was originally slated to play the lead role of Grace in all parts of the "American Trilogy," but due to commitments to other projects, she had to decline participation in the film "Manderlay" (2005).
- The famous opening shot of Dogville from above was computer-generated from 156 individual frames. The reason for using a computer was that the ceiling of the studio pavilion where the filming took place was not high enough to allow for a single wide shot from above.
- The film is dedicated to the memory of Katherine Cartlidge – a British actress who was supposed to play the role of Vera, but was unable to participate in the project due to serious illness. The actress passed away on September 7, 2002, from complications following severe pneumonia and sepsis. She was only 41 years old.
- The film ranks 7th in the top 20 films since 1992, according to Quentin Tarantino.
- The photographs shown during the end credits are taken from Jacob Holdt's book 'American Pictures'.
- Above the entrance to the old mine shaft is written the Latin phrase “Dictum ac factum,” which can be translated as “Said and done.”
Similar movies
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
