The Depression Years in America, a time of gangsters, poverty and minimal communication of world events to the tiny towns on the Midwest. ‘Dogville’ is a rural small town in the Midwest peopled by what appear to be good folk. Into this scene enters a beautiful girl on the run Grace (a luminous Nicole Kidman) who seems to be in flight from gangsters. The town's philosopher Tom (Paul Bettany in an extraordinary performance) finds Grace, hides her in the town's mine shaft (over the door is the inscription 'Speak the Truth'...), and convinces the townsfolk to harbor her. In exchange for this kindness Grace must do some work for each of them everyday as a gesture of good will. When the police come looking for Grace later, the townsfolk still protect her but the price is doubling the amount of work she must do in reparation. Slowly this town of kind appearing folk become wary of Grace, start lies about her, abuse her sexually and physically, and eventually fetter her as their prisoner. Tom advises her to address the townsfolk with the whole truth of how the individuals in the town, quite apart form acting as a group, have been secretly treating her: the truth will make you free sort of confession. From that point the story turns and the ending is so very powerful that even hinting at the last chapter would rob the audience of the incredible impact.

Von Trier has gathered a cast of brilliant actors: in addition to Nicole Kidman and Paul Bettany, the cast includes Patricia Clarkson, Lauren Bacall, Ben Gazzara, Stellan Skarsgard, Chloe Sevigny, Harriet Andersson, James Caan, Phil Baker Hall, Jeremy Davies, and the eloquent off stage narrator John Hurt. Despite the length of the film (close to three hours) the tension never lapses. The only true criticism of the film is some very unnecessarily choppy editing. The musical score is haunting and the final credits (von Trier tastefully opens his film with no credits at all) are presented with many of the photographs of Dorothea Lange from her Depression Series, and photographs by other artists who show the effects of poverty throughout the world. It leaves you breathless. This film is a triumph, it calls for your involvement as a viewer, and it has lessons about morality and the individual's plight in an angry world. Highly Recommended.

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Grady Harp is a recognized as a champion of Representational Art in the roles of curator, lecturer, panelist, writer of art essays, poetry, critical reviews of literature, art and music, and as a gallerist. He has presented premiere artists from throughout the world for such exhibitions as BODY LANGUAGE: Current Figurative Painters, INDOMITABLE SPIRITS: The Figure at the End of the Century and MEMENTO MORI: Contemporary Still Life. He has produced exhibitions for the Fresno Museum of Art, Nevada Museum of Art, National Vietnam Veterans Art Museum in Chicago, and Cleveland State University Art Gallery and has served as a contributing artistic advisor for universities and colleges throughout California, in Berlin, the Centro Cultural de Conde Duque in Madrid, and in Oslo. From 1996 - 1998 his collaborative exhibition, WAR SONGS: Metaphors in Clay and Poetry from the Vietnam Experience toured the United States. Harp is a frequent contributor to books on fine art, associated with the Ivy Press LTD in England.

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© 2004 Laura Hird All rights reserved.