Manderlay, 2005

Almost as good as 'Dogville', but falls short of the organic, intense personal drama of that film. 'Manderlay' maintains the stark, stage-like set design which puts characters and ideas at the forefront (one can argue that these films should in fact be plays, as they don't fully utilize the film medium's capabilities, but to me, that's neither here nor there). The ideas here are much the same as in 'Dogville': American society cannibalizing itself, injustice and dehumanization being at the heart of Capitalism. In 'Manderlay', we look specifically at slavery, with Bryce Dallas Howard now playing the American Conscience (which is sometimes a good thing, but often very, very bad). These films (and any of Von Trier's, for that matter) cannot be watched solely for entertainment value; they exist as parables, or allegories, and must be actively watched for symbolism, themes and underlying character motivation to figure them out. If you are not prepared to invest yourself like that, the film will be boring and quite unsatisfying.

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