Anticipating.... Lars Von Trier's "Manderlay" (trailer)

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I posted this at the end of the Dogville thread but i thought it might get some more attention and provoke some interesting debate.

The Trailer alone for Manderlay (Part 2 of the trilogy) is all set to provoke consternation. What new game is this?

-- jed_ (colin_o_har...), April 25th, 2005. (jed) (later)

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Whoa. I liked Dogville, or rather, was pretty blown away and affected by it, but as with all Lars Von Trier films, I don't have any desire to watch it again. So seeing the trailer for Manderlay, well, it looks so similar to Dogville (and the main character's name is Grace too?). But it won't be the same film, I realize. Still, I feel cautious...

-- rrrobyn (apoemabouteverythin...), April 25th, 2005. (rrrobyn) (later)

― jed_ (jed), Monday, 25 April 2005 21:49 (twenty years ago)

to answer rrrobyn - Grace is the same character in the film but this time played by Bryce Dallas Howard rather than Kidman.

http://www.trust-film.dk/off_vis_film.asp?id=148

― jed_ (jed), Monday, 25 April 2005 21:53 (twenty years ago)

the character is the same character as Grace in Dogville. It will be played by a different actress in each film (there is another one after this, or so I read). This was initially only because Kidman turned Manderlay down. (xpost)

― kyle (akmonday), Monday, 25 April 2005 21:54 (twenty years ago)

Interesting. A different actress in all three films seems like a good response provoked by need.

― jed_ (jed), Monday, 25 April 2005 21:56 (twenty years ago)

Yes, I figured from the trailer, the way the Grace character was moving and acting was very similar to the Grace character from Dogville, so probably was the same character. And she's an intriguing character, I suddenly realize. I mean, intriguing enough to make more films around. But I wonder how the time/linearity will work, that is, Grace went through all these trials and trauma, what else can she go through?!

― rrrobyn (rrrobyn), Tuesday, 26 April 2005 00:43 (twenty years ago)

can't wait ... i hope the ending is even half as good as dogville's ...

― shit think, shit think, shit quick (deangulberry), Tuesday, 26 April 2005 01:44 (twenty years ago)

But I wonder how the time/linearity will work, that is, Grace went through all these trials and trauma, what else can she go through?!

She's more cipher than character, really.

― Eric von H. (Eric H.), Tuesday, 26 April 2005 03:02 (twenty years ago)

i'm sure it will be good but the shock of Dogville's setting and the narration really made me love that film, it was so unexpected (I mean, I did know about it before I saw it, but I was so surprised it worked so well). So this will have to really stand up on the performances and the script this time or do something to surprise me to make me like it as much as Dogville.

― kyle (akmonday), Tuesday, 26 April 2005 04:02 (twenty years ago)

nine months pass...

this is out now in the states (well, nyc at least). anyone else seen it yet?

it treads a lot of similar ground to dogville - very shaky (if not downright implausible) plot arc, controversial political allegory, "ciphers rather than characters" to quote eric h. above, etc. bryce dallas howard filled nicole's shoes pretty well, i thought, even right down to the intonation of her speech (though with more assertive self-righteousness). on the whole, though, it's way more heavy-handed than dogville and he really beats you about the head with his ideas. which i've come to expect from him but this just felt like more of the same, really.

that said, given the direction the film takes at the end (i won't say more), i'm very interested in seeing what the third film will be like.

― joseph (joseph), Monday, 30 January 2006 05:01 (twenty years ago)

i love dogville, but i'm skeptical of the need for three of them. i'll see this eventually, but i'm not in a hurry.

― gypsy mothra (gypsy mothra), Monday, 30 January 2006 05:06 (twenty years ago)

I don't anticipate paying to see any more of LvT's swill.

― Dr Morbius (Dr Morbius), Monday, 30 January 2006 14:12 (twenty years ago)

I liked The Five Obstructions, but I guess he didn't really direct that.

― Redd Harvest (Ken L), Monday, 30 January 2006 14:20 (twenty years ago)

Yeah, I saw this back in December. Very hard to talk about it in a non spoilerish fashion, but for the record:

http://www.orlyowl.com/combo.gif

― Daniel_Rf (Daniel_Rf), Monday, 30 January 2006 15:18 (twenty years ago)

...well, not entirely, but when Trier's general "humans = scum" stance gets tangled up with real historical issues, I get squeamish ("Dogville" never felt as much *about* dust bowl people as this feels *about* race relations, if that makes any sense.)

Lauren Bacall's only in it for like five minutes. Shenanigans!

Pretty fucking sexist, as well.

BUT: nice to look at, not a cut below "Dogville" in that department.

Better than "Dancer In The Dark", but then, what isn't?

― Daniel_Rf (Daniel_Rf), Monday, 30 January 2006 15:23 (twenty years ago)

MOE: (cupping hand over phone) I said I'm looking for a MANDERLAY?! Anybody? Any MANDERLAY here?

― literalisp (literalisp), Tuesday, 31 January 2006 02:04 (twenty years ago)

nineteen years pass...

Acting can be less blissful than that. Howard remembers shooting Manderlay in Norway with Lars von Trier, the Danish director with a reputation for erratic behaviour. On arrival she was immediately summoned by von Trier. “He started insulting me: ‘Your father’s a terrible film-maker.’ I went, ‘Lars, what are you trying to see?’ and he said, ‘Your angry face. I don’t know what it looks like.’” Von Trier then threw a glass of water in her face. “So I threw a glass of water in his face. He goes, ‘Why did you do that?’ and got up and left. That was my introduction to the Lars von Trier experience, but it wasn’t like I went to my room and cried or anything. I was sort of delighted by it.”

― Josh in Chicago, Sunday, 8 June 2025 21:06 (ten months ago)

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