Dogville

This article is about the 2003 film. For Dogville comedy films, see Dogville Comedies. For things named Dogtown, see Dogtown (disambiguation).

Dogville
Theatrical release poster
Directed byLars von Trier
Written byLars von Trier
Produced byVibeke Windeløv
Starring
Narrated byJohn Hurt
CinematographyAnthony Dod Mantle
Edited byMolly Marlene Stensgård
Production
companies
Distributed by
Release dates
  • May 19, 2003 (2003-05-19) (Cannes)
  • March 26, 2004 (2004-03-26) (United States)
Running time
178 minutes[5]
Countries
  • Denmark
  • United Kingdom
  • Sweden
  • France
  • Germany[1]
LanguageEnglish
Budget$10 million[6]
Box office$16.7 million[6]

Dogville is a 2003 avant-garde thriller[7][8] film written and directed by Lars von Trier, and starring an ensemble cast led by Nicole Kidman, Lauren Bacall, Paul Bettany, Chloë Sevigny, Stellan Skarsgård, Udo Kier, Ben Gazzara, Patricia Clarkson, Harriet Andersson, and James Caan with John Hurt narrating. It is a parable that uses an extremely minimal, stage-like set to tell the story of Grace Mulligan (Kidman), a woman hiding from mobsters, who arrives in the small mountain town of Dogville, Colorado, and is provided refuge in return for physical labor.

The film is the first in von Trier's incomplete USA – Land of Opportunities trilogy, which was followed by Manderlay (2005) and is projected to be completed with Washington. The film was in competition for the Palme d'Or at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival.[9] It was screened at various film festivals before receiving a limited release in the US on March 26, 2004.

Dogville opened to polarized reviews from critics. Some considered it to be pretentious or exasperating; it was viewed by others as a masterpiece,[10] and has widely grown in stature since its initial release. It was later included in the 2016 poll of the greatest films since 2000 conducted by BBC. Filmmakers such as Quentin Tarantino and Denis Villeneuve have praised the film.[11]

  1. ^ a b c d "Dogville". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 13 February 2016. Retrieved 6 February 2013.
  2. ^ a b c d "Film #20033: Dogville". Lumiere. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
  3. ^ "Dogville (2003)". BBFC. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
  4. ^ "Dogville (2003)". Swedish Film Database. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
  5. ^ "Dogville". British Board of Film Classification. Retrieved 6 February 2013.
  6. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Box Office Mojo 2004 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ "Lars Von Trier's Deconstructive, Avant Garde Cinema". The Playlist. 28 July 2016. Retrieved 10 October 2022.
  8. ^ "Synopsis, Movie Info, Moods, Themes and Related". AllMovie. 21 May 2003. Retrieved 12 October 2024.
  9. ^ "Festival de Cannes: Dogville". festival-cannes.com. Retrieved 4 August 2024.
  10. ^ "Dogville (2003)". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 20 August 2012. Retrieved 7 July 2015.
  11. ^ "The 21st-century movie Denis Villeneuve calls "genius"". faroutmagazine.co.uk. 1 December 2022. Retrieved 17 February 2023.