The latest production of the Dogme ’95 team of Thomas Vinterberg and Lars von Trier could go down as the heaviest film of 2005 unless von Trier uncorks another “Dogville” before the end of the year. “Dogville” photog Anthony Dod Mantle combines elements of Kubrick’s “Clockwork Orange,” Danny Boyle’s “Trainspotting,” and Fincher/Palahniuk’s “Fight Club” in a tale of six teenage outcasts who join together to forge an identity. As that identity spins out of control, fate triumphs over fantasy and the make-believe world comes crashing down in a ferocious climax. Not to be missed by aficionados of the quirky and eccentric who don’t mind down and dirty exposition. Although unrated, this one gets a solid “R” and should be attended only by adults and mature teens.
Like “Dogville,” the setting is a poverty stricken American small town. Von Trier likes a clean slate and the survival-level wasteland of a depressed coal mining community works just fine. The actual filming was done at an abandoned mine operation in Germany and an abandoned military base outside of Copenhagen. These locations work perfectly to combine the darkness and claustrophobia that walls in the teenagers. Trapped in their dismal stations, breakout risks everything. It risks their already marginal and mean acceptance by the community. It risks the cave-in of everything of which their shelter is built. But they have no choice.
Constructed chronologically, much of the narrative is told in voiceovers by the young protagonists. The headquarters for the club is an abandoned mine shaft that forms the perfect microcosm. There is never enough light as there is no power in the shaft and candles are the only illumination. When the group is together they speak to one another and the audience at the same time, delivering lectures as much as relating conversation. They are the “Dandies,” gentleman warriors who pack antique side-arms and know how to use them. But their power is not in their guns, it is in their pride and unity. Their power is in their secret.
The “dandy” concept connects to the soundtrack by the 1960s rock band, The Zombies (biggest hit: “She’s Not There”--1964). The most refined and sophisticated of the eccentrically baroque faction of England’s Mersey beat scene, The Zombies imbued their British invasion tunes with blue notes and heavy lyrics that added an ominous feeling of dread to their material. They were the first dandies, the first genuine outcasts of Mod, with their blue-collar roots asunder and their imaginations gone wild. They had lost their grip on reality, and were glad of it.
Extend that music, then, to the Dandies. True to Mod form, they dress in foppish epaulets and hats and brandish swords in defense of breeches of honor, real and imagined. Their guns are their identities and each has a name and a specialty. Each gun and each person are a couple, wedded together for a specific purpose that is yet to be revealed. The club goes from skulking about in doorways and taking random beatings in high school to performing parades down main street and daring anyone to oppose them. But an outsider penetrates the group, infecting the mine shaft with criticism about the fantasies that are the glue that holds the Dandies together. Discipline is challenged and a breakout is planned; but it remains to be seen if the Dandies’ faith can stand the light of day.
Flat-out excellent performances by Jamie Bell and Mark Webber as teenagers who refuse to follow in their fathers’ coal-mining footsteps. Jamie Bell starred in the smash hit “Billy Elliot,” and did a great job portraying the outcast boy carrying the secret burden of a love of dance. That he did this work when about 13 years of age is amazing. Not yet 20 years old, he stars in this movie and the currently released “Chumscrubber” as well.
Mark Webber was last seen in “Winter Solstice” with Anthony LaPaglia. In that film he plays the self-destructive son of widower LaPaglia who can neither accept nor understand the death of his wife. Another great performance by this young actor.
Last but not least, Bill Pullman plays police officer Krugsby, who represents worldly sanity and is the only “normal” person in the movie. As the Dandies would have it, Krugsby is portrayed as a moron, if a moron who means well. But who wins in the end? Now claiming over fifty films to his credit, Pullman does a good job in a character role offering little latitude for expression.
This is a powerful and focused film that will make a mark on the landscape. But the subject matter is deadly serious and not for the faint of heart. Mature audiences only.
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