In the second instalment of a planned “American” trilogy, Lars von Trier once again presents Grace, the heroine of his last film Dogville. Now she is on a plantation called Manderlay confronting the appalling cruelty and injustice of slavery. Will she be content to merely stand by and watch?
In the second instalment of a planned American trilogy, based on motifs of the United States as a land of unlimited opportunity, Danish enfant terrible Lars von Trier brings the character of Grace to the screen once again. She was also the heroine of his last picture Dogville, though Nicole Kidman is here replaced by Bryce Dallas Howard (known from M. Night Shyamalan’s The Village). At the beginning of the thirties, Grace and her father move from Colorado to Alabama, to an old plantation named Manderlay where they are confronted with the appalling cruelty and injustice of slavery. Unable to idly stand by, Grace decides to do something. But with what result? The social order, maintained for decades, falls apart but does it serve to teach slaves democracy?
139 min / Color, 35 mm
Director Lars von Trier
/ Screenplay Lars von Trier
/ Dir. of Photography Anthony Dod Mantle
/ Editor Molly Malene Stensgård
/ Producer Vibeke Windeløv
/ Production Zentropa Entertainments ApS
/ Cast Bryce Dallas Howard, Isaach De Bankolé, Danny Glover, Willem Dafoe
/ Contact TrustNordisk, Artcam Films, Danish Film Institute, Zentropa Entertainments ApS
Lars von Trier (b. 1956, Copenhagen) studied at the National Film School of Denmark, graduating with the noteworthy Images of Relief (1982), but before coming to feature films he shot more than 50 commercials. His feature debut, The Element of Crime (1984), was well received, winning the Technical Grand Prize at Cannes. Then followed the dramas Epidemic (1987) and Europa (1991; Jury Prize at Cannes), the melodrama Breaking the Waves (1996; Grand Jury Prize at Cannes, European Film Award for Best Film), the anti-musical Dancer in the Dark (2000; Palme d’Or at Cannes), The Idiots (1998), the first two parts of a planned trilogy: Dogville (2003) and Manderlay (2005). He experiments in television as well (Medea, 1988; the series “The Kingdom”/“Riget”, the collective New Year’s performance D-dag). He co-founded the enterprising production company Zentropa, and is coauthor of the moralistic, style-generating directors’ manifesto Dogma 95, which he has used, however, only to shoot The Idiots.
TrustNordisk
Filmbyen 22, 2650, Hvidovre
Denmark
Phone: +45 368 687 88
E-mail: [email protected]
Artcam Films
Rašínovo nábřeží 6, 128 00, Praha 2
Czech Republic
Phone: +420 221 411 619
Fax: +420 221 411 699
E-mail: [email protected]
Danish Film Institute
Gothersgade 55, 1123, Copenhagen
Denmark
Phone: +45 337 434 00
Fax: +45 337 434 01
E-mail: [email protected]
Zentropa Entertainments ApS
Filmbyen 24, DK - 2650, Hvidovre
Denmark
Phone: +45 36 868 920
Fax: +45 36 868 789
E-mail: [email protected]
Tine Klint
Other, Sales Agent
Barbora Mudrová
Other, TV Representative
Christian Juhl Lemche
Film Institution Rep.
Hanne Skjodt
Film Institution Rep.
Jeremy Davies
Actor
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