But DOGVILLE came out in early 2003, during the "freedom fries" period of the pre-Iraq War, and I guess everyone was in an ugly, defensive mood. C'est la vie.

I will stipulate that DOGVILLE is pretentious and arrogant, but also a spectacular work of art, just like every other movie Lars Von Trier has ever made. Duh! Lars Von Trier is a genius and a real asshole. We already knew that. That's his whole scene.

At a whopping 177 minutes, this film requires a commitment. You start watching it and it seems like a bunch of nothing, but there's an intriguing quality. then it hooks you and ends up being a pretty profound emotional experience.

Set in the 1930s during the Great Depression in the Rocky Mountains, DOGVILLE is Lars von Trier's comment on Americana and his uniquely perverse view of small town life. With period costumes, a narrative that reads like a naughty OUR TOWN, and flashes of THE ADVENTURES OF TOM SAWYER--which is being read by one of the characters--von Trier sets the scene. Using nothing more than a black floor on which white chalk lines and labels mark out houses and landmarks such as the mine and the store, the film is essentially a play. With only minimal props, the emphasis is on the script and the performances.

An audacious, provocative film that dazzles many viewers while infuriating others, Dogville is the ideologically skewed but fascinating product of Danish director Lars von Trier (Dancer in the Dark), who brings his fundamentally anti-American bias to this dark, Depression-era parable. It unfolds in a small Rocky Mountain town where a frightened young woman (Nicole Kidman) seeks refuge from the gangsters following her. Championed by a sympathetic young man (Paul Bettany), she is granted a two-week ?trial period? to determine her suitability as a prospective resident of Dogville. The townspeople (especially the males) are suspicious of this taciturn fugitive yet willing to take advantage of her when the opportunity arises. In the manner of Thornton Wilder's play Our Town, von Trier's film plays out on a nearly barren stage, with just a few props scattered around and chalk outlines drawn on the floor to represent buildings. The absence of physical trappings are less apparent than one might suspect because the acting is so powerful: Dogville's cast includes as townspeople such fine supporting players as James Caan, Ben Gazzara, Lauren Bacall, Patricia Clarkson, Jeremy Davies, Stellan Skarsgard, Chloe Sevigny, and Blair Brown, with John Hurt contributing his sonorous tones as a narrator. The director depicts these semi-rural villagers as inherently suspicious, xenophobic, duplicitous, opportunistic, craven, and easily stirred to violence. He brings to this script (which he wrote) what critic Roger Ebert correctly identified as the ?ideological subtlety of a raving prophet on a street corner,? and there's no doubt that many viewers will be turned off by his bleak, hateful characterization of small-town America. But there is undeniable strength and vigor in von Trier's direction, and remarkable passion in the performances of a varied cast. In short, Dogville is one of those rare movies for which there is no middle ground: People either love it or hate it. But it's not easily forgotten, and that's more than can be said for many contemporary movies.

Set in a small fictional town in the U.S. during the 1930s, Lars von Trier's Dogville was filmed in a studio with a minimal set and features narration by John Hurt. On the run from a group a gangsters, Grace (Nicole Kidman) arrives in the small mining town of Dogville. Town philosopher Tom Edison (Paul Bettany) takes her in and strikes a deal with her: She'll work for the townsfolk in exchange for a safe place to hide; after two weeks the people will vote for her to either stay or go. Grace agrees to the terms and ends up meeting the locals, including the town doctor (Philip Baker Hall), shopkeeper (Lauren Bacall), and apple farmer (Stellan Skarsgård). Eventually, Grace's standing in the town takes a downward shift as the search for her intensifies. -Andrea LeVasseur