If there are bodies and faces, what do I need sets for? On Dogville.

Abstract

In Dogville (2003), Lars Von Trier tells a brutal story of power and submission that is offered as a cautionary tale about kindness and guilt. To do this, he takes a radical approach: the removal of sets, which are replaced with lines and names painted on the floors and a handful of props. There is nothing flippant or outrageous about this technique, which inserts human existence into an uninhabitable space that provokes the discomfort of the spectator, an uneasiness that is intended and necessary for the objectives of the film. Using an inquisitive and unstable camera that eliminates the distance from its object, the action is focused on the faces, bodies and voices to the point that the reality of the emotions ultimately overwhelms the spatial unreality.