Featured Audience Ratings

• Emil K

  
  When he is good, director Lars von Trier can do wonders, but when he is not that good he can be equally awful too. I haven't never quite gotten inside of these two experimental soundstage films, Manderlay and Dogville, of his which both critizes heavily America and it's… More
  When he is good, director Lars von Trier can do wonders, but when he is not that good he can be equally awful too. I haven't never quite gotten inside of these two experimental soundstage films, Manderlay and Dogville, of his which both critizes heavily America and it's culture and politics. Where Dogville at least worked as a curiosity and had better screenplay, Manderlay is simply just preachy and boring as hell. This time Trier picks slavery as his topic and the end result feels heavy and forced. There is nothing new about human nature to be found here. Trier just basically toys with the same topics as so many other directors before him. Cast is capable all around and especially Bryce Dallas Howard has more potential as an actress than Trier can actually get out of her. Names like Udo Kier, Willem Dafoae, Lauren Bacall Jean Marc Barr are all criminally underused in their roles. The main problem here in my opinion is that Trier's soundstage concept was all used up in his earlier Dogville. Manderlay just seem to be recycling the same ideas of Dogville but only with lesser impact. This is clearly meant to be provocative work but it ends up being nothing more than a overlong morality play about human nature. Manderlay is one of the weaker films from Trier.

• Anthony L

  
  I really didn't think he'd top Dogville but I think Lars von Trier has here with Manderlay. The sound-stage concept still feels fresh and the change of actors almost adds to the next chapter of the American trilogy (At least what was meant to be a trilogy, it's a… More
  I really didn't think he'd top Dogville but I think Lars von Trier has here with Manderlay. The sound-stage concept still feels fresh and the change of actors almost adds to the next chapter of the American trilogy (At least what was meant to be a trilogy, it's a terrible shame another film will now not be made). Everything about this film is first rate, I'm astonished by this film's low rating on flixster. I guess if you hold a mirror up to the world, the world doesn't always like what it sees.

• Pierluigi P

  
  Lars Von Trier repeats his famous and tedious Dogville formula. nevertheless, an interesting and thought-provoking microcosm.

• Antony S

  
  The mid-point of Lars von Trier's 'American trilogy', Manderlay follows up Dogville in it's presentation of the hypocrisy of a fictional-but-it-most-certainly-could-be-real town in the good ol' US of A. Rather than another case of snide back-stabbing in such… More
  The mid-point of Lars von Trier's 'American trilogy', Manderlay follows up Dogville in it's presentation of the hypocrisy of a fictional-but-it-most-certainly-could-be-real town in the good ol' US of A. Rather than another case of snide back-stabbing in such backwater towns, Manderlay takes us (and Grace) to a small village in which slavery is still going ahead. Grace is quick to point out the error of everyone's ways here, even arguing her father's gangsters have more humanity, and her trust and optimism later prove to be here downfall. The sets are once again less than minimal, mostly rooms are defined by chalk outlinesm with occiasonal 'real pieces', such as a donkey powering a well. Though still powerful cinema, by its very nature lacks the innovation of the first, and thus the impact. Other flaws occur, such as Grace's recasting as Bryce Dallas Howard. Not that she gives a bad performance; she simply doesn't look like Kidman, nor does she have her screen prescence. Another issue is her sudden precociousness (at nights she lusts for a local 'black buck'), which seems implausible after her sexual torment in Dogville. The third act is a belter, though, ably illustrating von Trier's true colours with some pitch-perfect, arguably por-slavery humanistic drama. Imperfect, but powerful.

• Walter M

  
  [font=Century Gothic]"Manderlay" takes place after the events in "Dogville". Grace(Bryce Dallas Howard, a vast improvement over Nicole Kidman), her mobster father(Willem Dafoe) and their gangster retinue make their way east to Alabama where they discover a… More
  [font=Century Gothic]"Manderlay" takes place after the events in "Dogville". Grace(Bryce Dallas Howard, a vast improvement over Nicole Kidman), her mobster father(Willem Dafoe) and their gangster retinue make their way east to Alabama where they discover a plantation, Manderlay, where the slaves have not yet been freed, even though it is 1933. Freeing them is the easy part; ensuring their former masters do not take advantage of them is another matter completely. So, Grace takes half of her father's men including his legal advisor and sets to occupy Manderlay until full liberation has occurred.[/font] [font=Century Gothic][/font] [font=Century Gothic]"Manderlay" is a better movie than "Dogville" and I found the plot very plausible. The film best serves as an allegory of the Second Gulf War and the ensuing occupation. Even the artifice of the sparse stage works better this time around. Lars von Trier again makes another critique of democracy but leaves his obsession of female martyrdom to Niki Caro.[/font]

• Cameron J

  
  Every time I think of this film's title, I always think of that line in "Wild is the Wind" that goes, "I hear the sound of mandolins", only I think, "I hear the sounds of Manderlay", and it's always Nina Simone's version in particular that… More
  Every time I think of this film's title, I always think of that line in "Wild is the Wind" that goes, "I hear the sound of mandolins", only I think, "I hear the sounds of Manderlay", and it's always Nina Simone's version in particular that I'm thinking of. Probably because this film, like Simone's awesome version of that song, is pretty black-filled, sad and overlong, though especially sad, or at least for John C. Reilly. Hey, I can understand why he was so especially hurt and offended about that donkey dying that he bailed out of this project, because he related donkey, seeing as he looked like one. Yeah, I know, not really, but hey, it's no more of a stretch than their thinking that Bryce Dallas Howard could pass for a character once played by Nicole Kidman. Of course, Lars von Trier could care less about consistency, unless of course he's being consistent in making Grace Mulligan and her struggles (Man, that poor girl can't catch a break no matter what time she's in) really nothing more than pure symbolism. I guess that means that this film will also keep up that "Dogville" formula of being good, though still so stylized, messy, unsubtle and over narrated by John Hurt to where its great story finds itself far from up to par. It certainly keeps of that formula piece of not being the consistently exciting film in the world, because although this film is good and not terribly slow, it's still a Lars von Trier movie set entirely on a blacked-out sound stage with the story structure of a book. What I underemphasized in my review of "Dogville" is the fact it was actually hardly dull, yet still slow, and this film is no exception, though its slowness is a bit more intense, to where the film is still not all that consistent in dullness, yet still has its duller moments, with the help of a bit more dryness and vivid stylizing within the atmosphere. For these slower points, credit is also due to the simple fact that, while the film is considerably shorter than its predecessor, it remains quite lengthy, yet with subject matter that doesn't terribly warrant such lengthiness, thus leaving repetition to set in, so that the film can break even. Still, although this is looser than "Dogville", it remains tainted by the moments of rushing that severely damaged the subtlety within its predecessor and does the same here, for although this film isn't with as much potential to squander, there's still much ambition that tragically rings false in some major parts, due to rushing and an occasional bit of jarring inconsistency plaguing progressive exposition and rendering character layers unevenness. Again, this film's faulty execution of ambition is less of a loss than it was in "Dogville", yet the film remains improvable, nevertheless. The film's intentions are noble, yet its substance is lacking, with too much style and emphasis on message and less focus on oomph, leaving the film to fall limp in quite a few parts. However, with all of its missteps, where the film could have fallen as an underwhelming, considerably inferior sequel, it ultimately comes out as, well, an inferior sequel. Still, on its own, this film is well worth the sit, for although its ambitions go betrayed by faulty execution, this final product has enough juice in it to reward its audience, particularly those looking for quality style. While the intriguing inventiveness of the stage-like setting has of course diluted since it was first introducted in "Dogville", it remains fascinatingly unique and, at times, once again supplementary to the very isolated, somewhat claustrophobic setting and themes, while still going less overemphasized, in order to feel more organic. Part of the reason why the play-style is less noticable is because the environment is considerably darker than it was in "Dogville", which of course gives cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle the opportunity to really brighten things up, and does so in a very colorful and handsome fashion that also reflects the film's themes of dim hope amidst dark times. Of course, once again, it's not just the people behind the construction of the film's style who give the product general effectiveness, but primarily the man behind the operation. Lars von Trier's writing remains faulty, with only so much room for substance to take breath from the film's often overemphasized messages, yet what substance bleed through finds itself charged by von Trier's once again inspired work of capturing the film's intial charm, before darkness and layers - such as they are - set in and go executed in an intriguing, tense and generally compelling fashion, giving the film as much of an organic feel as it can with such an uneven and unsubtle script, yet doesn't do so alone. While subtlety most certainly still stands to go augmented, the supporting characters within this film feel less like the devices the characters of "Dogville" were and more human in their limited layers, and each performer nails that as thoroughly as they can with messy character writing, which is actually pretty darn thorough, with each person delivering on haunting atmosphere, as well as distinctiveness and believability in their portrayal of people thrusted into a lifestyle they're not prepared for that will change them, for both the good and bad, but especially the bad. At the center of all of this chaos stands Bryce Dallas Howard, whose level of acting quality in comparison to Nicole Kidman is debatable, especially considering that this interpretation of Grace Mulligan feels surprisingly different than the one we saw in "Dogville", yet the lovely Miss Howard still embodies this Grace Mulligan also with sharp charisma, until she incorporates haunting depth and subltety, broken up by intense emotion into her performance at the darker moments she is to translate to the audience, being its avatar. Howard delivers on following in the footsteps of the great Nicole Kidman with an acting job that stands firmly as its own distinctive lead performance, yet one still riddled with the charisma, range and haunting, subtle depth that made Nicole Kidman such a film-carrying powerhouse in "Dogville" and makes Bryce Howard just as engrossing in this film. Overall, while this sequel remains rarely all that dull, it's still as slow as ever, with less oomph and more padding repetition within the storyline, which remains rather uneven on occasions, partially due to a degree of rushing, thus rendering the film decidedly inferior to its predecessor, yet it still stands strong, supported by more comfortably handled style, as well as periodically sobering, engrossing and all around compellingly inspired direction, while many a powerful, human and distinctive performance among the supporting cast further supplement resonance, which goes ultimately secured by a charismatic, emotional, hauntingly atmospheric and rather transformative lead performance by Bryce Dallas Howard, thus leaving "Manderlay" to stand as a fascinatingly provocative and, at times, thoroughly compelling second phase in Lars von Trier's celebration and deconstruction of American culture, as well as humanity itself. 3/5 - Good

• Alec B

  
  While it lacks the raw emotional punch of "Dogville" this sequel of sorts raises a lot of fascinating ideas about race and how communities are formed. The final moments are pure genius as they are wonderfully dark and sum up the film beautifully. I hope Lars von Trier… More
  While it lacks the raw emotional punch of "Dogville" this sequel of sorts raises a lot of fascinating ideas about race and how communities are formed. The final moments are pure genius as they are wonderfully dark and sum up the film beautifully. I hope Lars von Trier finishes the trilogy as I cannot wait to see what topic he examines next.

• Sylvester K

  
  Manderlay is a sequel to Dogville, although not as compelling, it tells a great political story. This time Grace arrived at a plantation where she decided to make some changes, but due to her being naive, inexperience and idealistic, she actually ended up creating more problems. Bryce… More
  Manderlay is a sequel to Dogville, although not as compelling, it tells a great political story. This time Grace arrived at a plantation where she decided to make some changes, but due to her being naive, inexperience and idealistic, she actually ended up creating more problems. Bryce Dallas Howard was great at playing Grace, but Nicole Kidman did a better job. The key messages Lars taught us are that: Communism never works, people are meant to be controlled and people are selfish in nature. Despite really enjoyed this film, I found the slaughter of a donkey unnecessary and the black paint on some actors' faces disturbing.

• Marcus W

  
  Continues the story from Dogville in the same stripped-down, soundstage style. It's a slow film, but in the last twenty minutes everything comes together with a beautiful twist to suggest that not all slaves were victims...

• Henrik S

  
  Lars von Trier is a master filmmaker, this can hardly be argued. Everything else aside, the way he uses the set and ligthning and directs his actors in Dogville and Manderlay is haunting and a feast for every film connoisseur. Yet, the "stories" of his films vary so much… More
  Lars von Trier is a master filmmaker, this can hardly be argued. Everything else aside, the way he uses the set and ligthning and directs his actors in Dogville and Manderlay is haunting and a feast for every film connoisseur. Yet, the "stories" of his films vary so much you cannot talk about his oeuvre in total. Dogville and Manderlay differ from his Dogma movies and all of these again very much from his Swedish movies. Manderlay explores another episode of American history/life, yet the focus dwindles between the fate of slaves in general and (which has always been Trier's prior interest), the question of good and bad, morals, decisions and fate. While I very much enjoyed this movie, I think it is a questionable decision to make a movie that singular in likeliness and subjective in opinion, but yet make it all part of an triolgy called "America", which supposedly portraits aspect of American history. The movie is utterly anti-American or anti-West for that matter, anti-capitalism and anti-human in general, as there is not one "good" person in the movie. Yet, one cannot deny that Trier's portrayal of humanity and humans is more realistic than many other. The division between good and bad, right and wrong cannot be made in reality and not a lot of moviemakers dare to speak out that truth in their movie and make each of their characters ambigious and ultimately human. The human nature is ambigious, paradox and neither good nor bad. Of course, this makes the movie not easy to digest as it is both disturbing as well as shockingly truthful which might put people off that already surrendered to the simpleness of mainstream cinema. A brilliant movie with an extraordinary cast except for a very disappointing Bryce Dallas Howard in the lead. The Anglo-African cast is very strong and intense, so is Danny Glover. Highly Recommended !

• Sunil J

  
  Not nearly as great as Dogville but Bryce Dallas Howard tries her best in this abbrasive depiction of racism in society.

• Wu C

  
  Kinda long and not as good as 'Dogville', but still worth a watch.

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