Dogville (2003)

writ. and dir. Lars von Trier
feat. Nicole Kidman, Harriet Andersson, Lauren Bacall, Jean-Marc Barr, Paul Bettany, Blair Brown, James Caan, Patricia Clarkson, Jeremy Davies, Ben Gazzara, Philip Baker Hall, Thom Hoffman, Siobhan Fallon, John Hurt

Not all movies earn a long running time, frequently growing bloated and redundant, a sure sign of directors in love with their own words and images (see Inglorious Basterds). But Dogville is an exception, a story that carefully, often painfully, charts a course toward a surprisingly twisted and delightfully deserved conclusion.

The film plays like a fable, Grace (Kidman) on the run from bad men and finding respite in the goodly arms of Tom (Bettany) and the people of Dogville. John Hurt's amiable narration guides the story, occasionally stepping in for longer stretches to mend gaps that the action can't sew up alone. The much-discussed design of the set, a series of chalk outlines that depict the town's buildings with spare furniture inside reads as novel at first, raising the question of its value, the viewer asked to watch little but faces and acting for the long haul. Such doubts are quickly quelled as this spare, simple choice serves to quicken the action, accentuate the transparency of life in a small town, and unveil the willingness of citizens to turn a blind eye to the seemingly obvious and undeniable.

Grace is a mystery to the small insular community and given the gunshots that announce her arrival, an understandably dubious addition to the town. It seems reasonable that she's required to win the affections of the local folk before being offered safe harbor. Yet, the people of the town gradually overshadow Grace's questionable past, their manipulative ways advancing into territory that could compete with the most sordid background. Here is where the time serves most effectively, the slow but steady shift from kind citizens to venomous abusers creeping along deceptively into the absurd, remaining plausible as only a fable can.

All of this leads to a finale both unpredictable and deeply satisfying that throws a bludgeoning monkey wrench at lefty social theory with an argument that the neo-cons, if they actually sat through long foreign films, would champion as gospel.