its true, I have spent far too much time inside the head of lars von trier in the past couple days. and its not fun. the first foray was on friday (?) night when i saw his newest film "manderlay" -- a sequel to "dogville" and the second in his series about america. where dogville revolved around the actual generosity and compassion of a so-called generous and compassionate community, "manderlay" is about race, pure and simple. I admit to leaving the theatre -- after being assaulted with historical images of poverty, lynching and all round abuse of black people in america over the centuries, all to the tune of david bowie's young americans -- looking like a deer caught in headlights. And i felt like one too. i felt as though I had been clobbered with a point: the racism in america, the historic divide between whites and blacks serves both groups, not just one. that rules can be compassionate -- how generous it is to take on the burden of thinking and planning and bossing around, allowing The Other the luxury of following orders.
I haven't written about this film sooner because my response to it was complicated. At first I felt as though I had been condesccended to. Yes, I know, there's racism. Yes, I know, indentured slaves. Yes, I know, nothing is as it seems, Yes, I know, people, when given the freedom to, will turn justice upon their own and lose sight of compassion. Yes, I know, The Old LAdy's garden is there for a reason, so don't cut it down or you might have trouble growing cotton when the dust storm kicks up. yes, I know, American policy towards the historically marginalized (due to race, geography or perceived hardship of governing system) can be arrogant and prescriptive. Thoughtless. The dialogue was stilted too. How can I possibly believe in this?
Yet Lars never asks you to believe. His narrator is omni-present, reminding the audience again and again that we are subject to Tom (of Dogville) favourite method of pedagogy: illustration. Lars draws the set out for us. We can see through walls. He casts different actors for the same characters in the sequel. He never for a moment lets us forget that what we are watching is a cultural product.
A cultural product created by a person outside of America about America. I wonder how this film is accepted in America. Do people see it as we see it? Obviously not. I mean, they live there. We live here. But are those who will go see a Lars von Trier film in the USA already converts, as it were. Is there anything to be learned from this lesson. Is there a "and therefore we can" to accompany the "yes, I know." Or is "Manderlay" a glass through which citizens of the USA can see their culture, their history, their national obsessions (spoken and un-) reflected?
Which brings me to "Dear Wendy." (WARNING: spoiler alert. i'm going to give away the end, so if you want to see the film as if it were a hockey game, skip to the end or just come back later after you've seen it.) This film was written by von Trier but directed by Vittenberg (can't remember his first name right now, and I'm even doubting his last). This is a film about guns. About losers. About disenfranchised, marginalized youth who find power and community through weaponry. They find great knowledge. They find something akin to a religion, and defintely they found a secret society. But inevitably -- as must happen in films -- everything goes horribly, horribly wrong and EVERYBODY DIES. (don't say I didn't warn you.)
Again, the narrator. But real sets. Real people. Lots of props. The feeling of a period piece in a contemporary setting. A modern western, they say. And all I could think was: columbinecolumbinecolumbine... And a sense of absurdity. because it is absurd to think that guns will protect us by making us stronger. Weapons are for attacking, not protecting. Walls are for protecting. Holes in the sand. Special shirts made of kevlar. A high fiber diet and lots of greens. Weapons are for hurting and killing.
And again, by the end, me thinking "yes, Lars, yes, I understand, I get it, please don't kill Billy Elliot!"
All I'm saying is that its time to get out of the head of Lars von Trier. God bless Jason who said, "in Lars' America, all there is are guns and racism." And its true. Lars gives us a skewed view. And as important as it is to know who you are and what you want, it is sometimes also good to get a sense of what others think of you. So God bless Lars and his rootin' tootin' shootin' ways.
(By the by, if you want an uplifting Lars movie, look for "The 5 Obstructions" He loves, he really does. In his own condescending, dad on the rocking chair drinking far too much vodka and smoking too much way, he does love. And he will do what he can to make you love yourself, too. IF you happen to be a great filmmaker and his mentor. But inspiring nonetheless...)
