oscar jubis
08-15-2006, 05:09 PM
Manderlay is the second installment of a trilogy Lars von Trier calls "USA: Land of Opportunities", a most ironic title which does not appear in either Manderlay or Dogville, the first film of the trilogy. By setting his trilogy in 1930s America, Trier faced two major problems: keeping the films within a limited budget and dealing with one of his many acknowledged phobias: traveling by airplane. The solution was to shoot the films on a large soundstage in Sweden, with chalk lines indicating the outlines of locations and using only the props that are essential to the narrative. John Hurt is back to provide literary, all-knowing voice-over. And again, the film ends on a highly effective coda: a collage of photographs illustrating the historic treatment of blacks in America, scored to David Bowie's wonderful "Young Americans". True to Trier's contradictory nature, this highly stylized approach to staging the action is paired with naturalistic hand-held camera manned by Trier himself as to give the impression he doesn't know beforehand precisely where to point the camera.The editing is characterized by frequent jump cuts, a consequence of Trier building each sequence from snippets of action from different takes of the same scene (Bryce Dallas Howard, who plays Grace in Manderlay, was completely surprised by her performance as it appears in the finished film). Trier is one of a handful of contemporary directors who have fashioned a unique and easily identifiable visual strategy or signature. A personal style kept free of influence partly by the director's refusal to watch any movies.
Manderlay was inspired by the preface to Pauline Reage's "Story of O" written by Jean Paulhan. It describes an actual rebellion in 1838 Barbados in which liberated slaves killed their former owner when he refused to re-enslave them. Manderlay is the name of a fictional plantation in Alabama. Grace, her gangster dad and his entourage chance upon it, after leaving Colorado and the massacre at the conclusion of Dogville. Upon learning that slavery is still in effect at Manderlay, Grace vows to liberate them. Her father reminds her of the caged bird who perished soon after being liberated by a 6 year old Grace but the young idealist manages to convince dad to leave behind a lawyer and four of his goons to assist her. Mam (Lauren Bacall) rules the plantation with the assistance of her foreman Wilhem (Danny Glover). The oppressive regime was codified into a book called "Mam's Law". Mam dies soon after the slaves are freed and Grace forms a type of transitional government ("the freed enterprise of Manderlay") that will lead eventually to black self-rule. She teaches democratic principles and establishes a system of justice. Gradually, over the course of the film's eight chapters, Grace's well-intentioned experiment in nation-building becomes a complete disaster. The former slaves are ill prepared to assume the responsibilities of decision-making, and they lack initiative and self-discipline. Grace's ignorance of the specific ecology of the plantation precipitates a dust storm that ruins the crop, then the whole enterprise collapses while she's busy indulging her sexual appetites. She doesn't know either how to handle noxious outside influences preying on the community. A bewildered, guilt-ridden Grace manages to escape in the direction of Washington and Trier's planned last chapter of his American trilogy.
Perhaps more so than Dogville, Manderlay is a provocation. An outsider's view of the legacy of slavery and the geopolitics of arrogance and greed currently practiced in America. It's a film by an artist able to ignore whatever is deemed politically correct because of his stature and his position outside the confines of big-budget filmmaking. There isn't a white director in America who would dare to revive the stereotypical and cliched typecasting of African-Americans on display here (in a manner similar to Spike Lee's Bamboozled). Trier even seems to suggest that there's some truth to these negative personality traits of his black characters, although it's made perfectly clear that these developed as a reaction to a most brutal and oppressive institution. As a parable, Manderlay equates Grace's "freed enterprise of Manderlay" with the Bush Administration's Iraq takeover and its efforts to create a functioning democracy there. The film provides ample food for thought regarding what freedom means and the complications that ensue when poorly equipped people are suddenly forced by circumstance to assume responsibilities and make decisions.
Manderlay is more thought provoking than thoughtful. What to make of the sexual angle, explained away by Trier by stating than you can't separate sexuality from politics or from anything else? Is Manderlay suggesting that certain authoritarian styles of governing are equally or more desirable than democracy? The film has the potential to offend anyone, regardless of political affiliation. It would seem inconceivable from where I sit to watch it and not be emotionally and intellectually stimulated. Few films can make that claim nowadays.
Manderlay was inspired by the preface to Pauline Reage's "Story of O" written by Jean Paulhan. It describes an actual rebellion in 1838 Barbados in which liberated slaves killed their former owner when he refused to re-enslave them. Manderlay is the name of a fictional plantation in Alabama. Grace, her gangster dad and his entourage chance upon it, after leaving Colorado and the massacre at the conclusion of Dogville. Upon learning that slavery is still in effect at Manderlay, Grace vows to liberate them. Her father reminds her of the caged bird who perished soon after being liberated by a 6 year old Grace but the young idealist manages to convince dad to leave behind a lawyer and four of his goons to assist her. Mam (Lauren Bacall) rules the plantation with the assistance of her foreman Wilhem (Danny Glover). The oppressive regime was codified into a book called "Mam's Law". Mam dies soon after the slaves are freed and Grace forms a type of transitional government ("the freed enterprise of Manderlay") that will lead eventually to black self-rule. She teaches democratic principles and establishes a system of justice. Gradually, over the course of the film's eight chapters, Grace's well-intentioned experiment in nation-building becomes a complete disaster. The former slaves are ill prepared to assume the responsibilities of decision-making, and they lack initiative and self-discipline. Grace's ignorance of the specific ecology of the plantation precipitates a dust storm that ruins the crop, then the whole enterprise collapses while she's busy indulging her sexual appetites. She doesn't know either how to handle noxious outside influences preying on the community. A bewildered, guilt-ridden Grace manages to escape in the direction of Washington and Trier's planned last chapter of his American trilogy.
Perhaps more so than Dogville, Manderlay is a provocation. An outsider's view of the legacy of slavery and the geopolitics of arrogance and greed currently practiced in America. It's a film by an artist able to ignore whatever is deemed politically correct because of his stature and his position outside the confines of big-budget filmmaking. There isn't a white director in America who would dare to revive the stereotypical and cliched typecasting of African-Americans on display here (in a manner similar to Spike Lee's Bamboozled). Trier even seems to suggest that there's some truth to these negative personality traits of his black characters, although it's made perfectly clear that these developed as a reaction to a most brutal and oppressive institution. As a parable, Manderlay equates Grace's "freed enterprise of Manderlay" with the Bush Administration's Iraq takeover and its efforts to create a functioning democracy there. The film provides ample food for thought regarding what freedom means and the complications that ensue when poorly equipped people are suddenly forced by circumstance to assume responsibilities and make decisions.
Manderlay is more thought provoking than thoughtful. What to make of the sexual angle, explained away by Trier by stating than you can't separate sexuality from politics or from anything else? Is Manderlay suggesting that certain authoritarian styles of governing are equally or more desirable than democracy? The film has the potential to offend anyone, regardless of political affiliation. It would seem inconceivable from where I sit to watch it and not be emotionally and intellectually stimulated. Few films can make that claim nowadays.