Dogville and other things
Jun. 23rd, 2003 12:50 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
darcydodoI've just discovered that these computers have DVD players. This means I could have been watching seasons 4, 5, and possibly 6 of Buffy. I think it's a good thing that I didn't know they had DVD players until now. :)
At lunch I sat with April, who was eating in the resto-u and saw me and said hi, and hence I felt it would be rude not to eat with her. I reconfirmed my impression that she is really incredibly unintelligent, and not just in an academic sort of way. It's like you've got academic stupidity and ditzyness combined, except she doesn't even do ditzy very well. And she's got an annoying accent. Umm, yeah, I'll stop April-bashing now, because I actually have nothing against her except her boringness.
Other than that, I spent the day sort of doing work, washing my hair, and sleeping until about 11:30am. (OK, so that's not actually in order of tasks performed.) When I woke up, I thought my right arm was lying down by my side, and then discovered it had actually been under my head. This was odd, because it felt like it was down by my side. And I tried to move my fingers and couldn't. I think it was the most asleep my arm had ever been. I used my left arm to rectify the matter, lots of elbow-and-wrist-bending action.
Tonight I went to see Dogville, but before that I ate dinner at a crêperie and managed to find Hévin chocolatier, which my mom is insisting I go to at some point. As I said, I would never object to such a task. (It wasn't open, of course, it being Sunday, but now I know where it is for future visits.) The crêperie was OK, too expensive for what it was, and I decided that the cheaper the crêpe place the better the quality, in fact. Only the really cheap ones haven't got cider.
Anyway, Dogville. So there's partially a question of how well I can review the movie at the same time as keeping it completely spoiler-free. This is mostly a problem because I would prefer to record my impressions than simply to give a review of the film (especially since I don't really know how to review something), and the former most likely rests on touching on specific points. But I'll try.
I can say, without fear of spoiling anything, that in my estimation that was an awesome movie. Any of you who are in European countries where it is currently playing: GO SEE IT. Equally, I really don't see how they can plan on successfully cuting down the length of the film for release in the States, as every glance, every word or lack thereof, contributed to the character images necessary for the progression of and the crux of the plot. And the several lesser cruces as well; the movie was divided into nine chapters and a prologue, and each of the last four or so chapters seemed to have its own unexpected twist. I'm proud to say that I cottoned on to the first twist of the last chapter, the only completely unpredictable one, before the information was delivered.
Having not seen Lars von Trier's other films (I even missed "Dancer in the Dark"), I don't know how this film, in conception, action, script, or cinematography, compares with them. But the script was excellent (the narrator's voice was positively lyrical in places) and the action well-conceived. The format of the visual image was interesting, to say the least. The town of Dogville is portrayed by lines chalked on a black stage, with each building or item of interest (the dog, the gooseberry bushes, the streets) labelled. There are some bits of furniture present, and not others; although the dog is merely an outline (despite his occasional barking), the bell-tower of the meeting house is actually extant. And the seasons pass, and the apple tree changes. And snow falls, and seeds fall, and leaves shore up against the rectangles of the houses. The action is therefore a strange amalgam of play and film, and it evokes images of such similar small-town plays as "Our Town" and, perhaps, "The Crucible." People act differently on-stage and on-screen, as well, and here the two are fused in a strange fashion. Slumping down the street, Tom (the male lead) is entirely of the play-world, in his reaction to the townsfolk sitting in their invisible hosues, his reaction to the houses themselves, but such an image is easily broken when a car drives onto the stage. And the stage has no real borders, either, only the mountains on one end of the town and the apple tree on the other. The stage is defined by the limits of the town, not the other way around. At the same time, the close-up, intimate shots are the most film-like, as this is what we are used to seeing on-screen and what the actors are more used to in the presence of cameras.
None of the performances, perhaps, are Oscar-winning, but they are all solidly done and believable, and that's saying something given the strange tensions to which these characters' emotions are subjected. Nicole Kidman does very well, especially at the end, when her character must almost do a volte-face in the light of altered situations.
I suppose I really oughtn't have worried as much as I did about spoiling things in this review, because I can't actually think of any specific points I want to touch on. Sure, I could say "Oh, I really liked this little touch here or there," but there's not such a need.
Now comes the question: do I see it again in the States? Or will I regret seeing a trimmed-down version? And do I, one day, buy the DVD? Or is watching it once traumatic and amusing enough that I don't need to watch it a second time at all? Gah...
Off to sleep, now, 'cause it's suddenly gotten late, and I still have to do my cheese project. I only managed to get a bit done today.
At lunch I sat with April, who was eating in the resto-u and saw me and said hi, and hence I felt it would be rude not to eat with her. I reconfirmed my impression that she is really incredibly unintelligent, and not just in an academic sort of way. It's like you've got academic stupidity and ditzyness combined, except she doesn't even do ditzy very well. And she's got an annoying accent. Umm, yeah, I'll stop April-bashing now, because I actually have nothing against her except her boringness.
Other than that, I spent the day sort of doing work, washing my hair, and sleeping until about 11:30am. (OK, so that's not actually in order of tasks performed.) When I woke up, I thought my right arm was lying down by my side, and then discovered it had actually been under my head. This was odd, because it felt like it was down by my side. And I tried to move my fingers and couldn't. I think it was the most asleep my arm had ever been. I used my left arm to rectify the matter, lots of elbow-and-wrist-bending action.
Tonight I went to see Dogville, but before that I ate dinner at a crêperie and managed to find Hévin chocolatier, which my mom is insisting I go to at some point. As I said, I would never object to such a task. (It wasn't open, of course, it being Sunday, but now I know where it is for future visits.) The crêperie was OK, too expensive for what it was, and I decided that the cheaper the crêpe place the better the quality, in fact. Only the really cheap ones haven't got cider.
Anyway, Dogville. So there's partially a question of how well I can review the movie at the same time as keeping it completely spoiler-free. This is mostly a problem because I would prefer to record my impressions than simply to give a review of the film (especially since I don't really know how to review something), and the former most likely rests on touching on specific points. But I'll try.
I can say, without fear of spoiling anything, that in my estimation that was an awesome movie. Any of you who are in European countries where it is currently playing: GO SEE IT. Equally, I really don't see how they can plan on successfully cuting down the length of the film for release in the States, as every glance, every word or lack thereof, contributed to the character images necessary for the progression of and the crux of the plot. And the several lesser cruces as well; the movie was divided into nine chapters and a prologue, and each of the last four or so chapters seemed to have its own unexpected twist. I'm proud to say that I cottoned on to the first twist of the last chapter, the only completely unpredictable one, before the information was delivered.
Having not seen Lars von Trier's other films (I even missed "Dancer in the Dark"), I don't know how this film, in conception, action, script, or cinematography, compares with them. But the script was excellent (the narrator's voice was positively lyrical in places) and the action well-conceived. The format of the visual image was interesting, to say the least. The town of Dogville is portrayed by lines chalked on a black stage, with each building or item of interest (the dog, the gooseberry bushes, the streets) labelled. There are some bits of furniture present, and not others; although the dog is merely an outline (despite his occasional barking), the bell-tower of the meeting house is actually extant. And the seasons pass, and the apple tree changes. And snow falls, and seeds fall, and leaves shore up against the rectangles of the houses. The action is therefore a strange amalgam of play and film, and it evokes images of such similar small-town plays as "Our Town" and, perhaps, "The Crucible." People act differently on-stage and on-screen, as well, and here the two are fused in a strange fashion. Slumping down the street, Tom (the male lead) is entirely of the play-world, in his reaction to the townsfolk sitting in their invisible hosues, his reaction to the houses themselves, but such an image is easily broken when a car drives onto the stage. And the stage has no real borders, either, only the mountains on one end of the town and the apple tree on the other. The stage is defined by the limits of the town, not the other way around. At the same time, the close-up, intimate shots are the most film-like, as this is what we are used to seeing on-screen and what the actors are more used to in the presence of cameras.
None of the performances, perhaps, are Oscar-winning, but they are all solidly done and believable, and that's saying something given the strange tensions to which these characters' emotions are subjected. Nicole Kidman does very well, especially at the end, when her character must almost do a volte-face in the light of altered situations.
I suppose I really oughtn't have worried as much as I did about spoiling things in this review, because I can't actually think of any specific points I want to touch on. Sure, I could say "Oh, I really liked this little touch here or there," but there's not such a need.
Now comes the question: do I see it again in the States? Or will I regret seeing a trimmed-down version? And do I, one day, buy the DVD? Or is watching it once traumatic and amusing enough that I don't need to watch it a second time at all? Gah...
Off to sleep, now, 'cause it's suddenly gotten late, and I still have to do my cheese project. I only managed to get a bit done today.
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Date: 2003-06-23 08:43 am (UTC)I knew that I liked you for a reason...just confirming my belief that you can't really like or be friends with everyone. We are defined by our taste in all things! ::cue evil cackle::