aighhhh

[ellen_datlow]

I watched Dogville tonight--what a piece of ugly swill. Von Trier really seems to hate women--not to mention the US. Woman escaping from gangsters arrives in a small American town where she has to "persuade" everyone to like her so she can hide out. Her one ally is the handsome guy who finds her escaping and he gives her advice as to how to win over everyone. She befriends each but as the gangsters seem more and more eager to find her the townspeople start to show their true colors.

This is the first of his movies that I've seen the whole of (although I watched and loved the first year of his tv series The Kingdom and liked (less) the second year of it).

If you'll remember, I started to watch Breaking the Waves a few months and after twenty minutes could not continue--it was just too damp, clingy, depressing. Next to him Bergman's a comedian. Anyway, this is the first I've seen of his "Dogma 95" films: a group of Danish directors who subscribe to the philosophy of paring down the settings to almost bare stages, very plain camera work, and doing everything possible to prevent the viewer from getting totally involved in the movie as another world.

Which I admit I don't "get"--why would I want a movie to seem as if I'm not watching a movie. I'm sure he and his fellow Dogma followers have brilliant philosophical reasons but for me it's the antithesis of cinema. Anyway, I don't really want to see any more of his movies.

To cleanse the palate I watched the mindless, fast-moving Bourne Supremacy with a really neat car chase in the last 20 minutes and Brian Cox, Joan Allen. I probably should have started with the first Bourne movie but I could figure out what was going on. Oh yeah, and Frankie Potenta (who was great in Run, Lola Run looking anorectic in this one was in the first 20 minutes.

Nicely entertaining.

Comments

[voidmonster.livejournal.com]

I think I yelled at the TV when it happened, despite living in an apartment at the time and watching it at 3am.

For me, I think, what's really digging into my ribs is the deck-stacking he does to achieve his effect.

'Cause I loved Greenaway's Baby of Macon, and it covers not wholly dissimilar territory. But then, Greenaway likes for all of his characters to suffer horribly. And to be naked. A lot.

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

I love some Greenaway but am not familiar wit that specific movie by him. Yeah, I feel Greenaway is actually far more inventive overall and when his stuff works it works big time. Of course when it doesn't...blchchh.

Lucius has tried to persuade me to watch Dancing in the Dark or at least the musical scenes....

[voidmonster.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm a bit hit-or-miss with Greenaway. I solidly liked The Cook, The Thief, etc, was amused by but largely bored with Prospero's Books (loved the soundtrack though), adored The Pillow Book, have mostly forgotten A Zed and Two Noughts (except for the snails), quite liked The Belly of an Architect liked at the time I saw it but have since forgotten 8 and a Half Women and I've been digging his short films.

The Baby of Macon is pretty universally reviled. It has -- as far as I know -- no distribution anywhere in any format. For some reason, people get touchy about dismembering infants, I guess. I don't think it was ever screened in the US at all. I've only ever seen a bootleg which came -- I think -- from an Italian VHS edition.

I'm not sure if it's more well known for the graphic infanticide, the full frontal Ralph Fiennes and Julia Ormond or it's vicious anti-church politics.

If you're interested, I could probably find a way to get the bootleg to you...

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

I very much liked The Cook, the Thief, etc. and also liked The Draughtsman's Contract and A Zed and Two Noughts--zebras, you don't remember the zebras? Also Drowning by Numbers.
I also found Prospero's Book dull.
I've got some of his short movies in my netflix queue.

I would be interested. I've heard nothing of it.

[voidmonster.livejournal.com]

Sadly, I don't remember the zebras. There's a faint recollection scurrying around in my skull but it's managing to stay just outside the beam of light. I've never managed to track down Drowning by Numbers.

Do you have a VHS player? I can just send you the copy I got. I've since managed to find a digital copy of it. Elsewise I can probably make a DVD of the digital version.

(I don't even have a VHS machine anymore)

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

I don't have VHS either, I'm afraid.

[voidmonster.livejournal.com]

Aha! I managed to make a watchable DVD off the file I've got. Apparently, there is a regular DVD release of it, but it was only in New Zealand and it's been out of print for many years.

If you'd still like me to send you a copy, I'll be happy to.

Just e-mail me the where-to at

voidmonster (at gmail.com).

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

Hey void,
Just emailed you with it.
Thanks!