Dogville

Until the last of Dogville's nine chapters, one feels that this film need not have been made at all. It repeats the same painful motifs of director Lars von Trier's earlier efforts: good woman suffers, humans are cruel beneath the surface. The final chapter not only saves it from being an exercise in mindless repetition – it positively elevates the film to greatness, and from a sea of half-baked ideas produces something that engages your brain. No spoilers here, but the film is worth sitting through.

The folks of small town Dogville are harmless at first. It is only when they realise the lengths to which refugee Grace (Nicole Kidman) will go to be accepted that they begin to exploit her. Kidman mainly plays a Jesus figure in this film, one that is punished accordingly. With a director as controversial as Von Trier, it is hard not to look for an agenda behind this story line. Maybe he reveals flaws in capitalist society, although if this is so, these flaws are exaggerated far beyond reason and no effort is made to account for them. His tale works best as a criticism of humanity as a whole. That the closing credits pin social evil on America exclusively seems a ridiculous hypocrisy coming from a First World European, particularly one who has never crossed the Atlantic for primary evidence.

Regardless of political ideology, the varying degrees to which Von Trier's townsfolk are guided by ethics are well studied, multifaceted, and worth absorbing. Most of the characters have something in them that the viewer can recognise. As with Dancer in the Dark, Von Trier is extraordinarily subtle in revealing the decline in human behaviour with which he is clearly obsessed. The much-discussed Brechtian sets used in the film do not so much let us focus better on the characters as make the town seem smaller. There are no walls, and props are kept to a minimum. Although brave and innovative in its application, this idea doesn't necessarily benefit the film more than it detracts from it. It is probably true that the film would have worked better as theatre, but it doesn't take long to get over the gimmick and enjoy the ride.

The narrative is dominated by a John Hurt voice-over, gradually unravelling the story in comforting tones. But despite having little to do, the supporting cast is a formidable match for Kidman's inspiring and sincere performance. Amid a swarm of Swedish extras, Paul Bettany continues to impress, Lauren Bacall is terrific, and Stellan Skarsgård does that nasty old thing he did in Breaking The Waves. With support like this, it will be interesting to see what the future holds for the infamous Danish misogynist – will he break into the big time with the second instalment of this new trilogy?