Hottoceame The Age of Commercialism

Comwayon A Disappointing Continuation

Maleeha Vincent It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

Gary The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

kos-27 If Dogville is a movie about human nature Manderlay is a movie about social nature, it is a very political movie.Manderlay works on many levels: It appears to be a story about oppression of the black people (and slavery) in America. In fact it's an allegory about society in general. How is a just society supposed to function? Is democracy the ultimate political possibility? These are the basic question we ask ourselves since the beginning of time. Lars von Trier chose America because it is the dominant culture of our time. It could be (like in Dogville) any society, even a family. The point is that the movie shows the unmasking of terms like "democracy" and "freedom". This story has so many levels, it could even be an allegory for all the wars that the West has fought and still is fighting in order to "impose democracy" and to "help" the oppressed peoples.The movie is made like Dogville and it is no less valuable than Dogville but because Dogville was the first and blew me away I prefer it slightly to Manderlay .

daytraider The way that director Lars Von Trier can point his finger so solemnly and self-importantly at a country he's never lived in is insufferable. The look of the film is tough on the eyes to watch. Can't a serious film be at least mildly pleasing aesthetically? I'd hope so. Cinema is a visual art form after all. And Von Trier's message? Moronic obvious nonsense about slavery still existing 70 years later, the fact that capitalism itself becomes slavery, and comparing Grace's (Bryce Dallas Howard) fight to end the slavery at Manderlay with the U.S. invasion of Iraq. As in "Dogville", Von Trier has no concept of what he speaks. Thankfully I didn't pay to see the movie so I'm glad he didn't reap any rewards from me or my crew.

Tweekums When I started watching this film I wasn't too sure what to expect as I'd been told that was a bit weird. While it certainly isn't a conventional film it was impressive and I'm sure I won't forget it in a hurry.Following on from his previous film "Dogville", which I've not seen, Grace, her father and a group of gangsters drive across the American South where they stop outside the Manderlay plantation where it appears that slavery is still occurring despite it being banned seventy years previously. Soon after arriving the old lady who owns the estate dies after asking Grace to burn the book which lists the rules that the slaves are forced to live by. Her family then offers to employ the ex-slaves and perhaps open a shop so that they don't have to go all the way into town to spend their money... just as Grace's father had said would happen. She is understandably appalled at this state of affairs and tells her father that she is going to stay along with a few of the gangsters and her father's lawyer to enforce change. The film then follows their trials and tribulations over the course of the next year, many things go wrong; the crops aren't planted when they normally would be and Grace's idea of cutting down some trees so that the people their would have timber to repair their houses has unforeseen consequences. As stated before this film isn't at all conventional, these days we are used to detailed CGI filling in any parts of the scenery that can't be made for real but this is the opposite as there is no real scenery. It takes place on a large white stage where everything is labelled and what scenery there is is very minimalistic, for example a whole house would not be shown, just the window frame a child climbs though. I was impressed by the acting, especially by Bryce Dallas Howard who was excellent as Grace.

Sianed23 Manderlay is the highly anticipated sequel to Lars Von Trier's "Dogville" (2003), and tells the continuing story of Grace (Bryce Dallas Howard) and (Willem Dafoe), who has left Dogville to live in the South.They stop in Alabama in front of a large iron gate bearing the name "Manderlay" where a black woman runs up to their car and frantically knocks on the window. Grace follows the woman into "Manderlay" and discovers the plantation living under slavery-laws. It is 1933, and slavery had been abolished 70 years earlier.Manderlay has been organised by Mam (Lauren Bacall), aided by faithful servant Wilhelm (Danny Glover). Under Mam's Law, a logbook has been kept which ranks each slave and determines their fate within that society. The film revolves around Grace's decision to stay at Manderlay and liberate the slaves to make up for the injustices they have suffered at the hands of whites. Grace attempts to subvert the slave system of Mam's Law, and one such scene sees the white masters with their faces painted black serving dinner to the former slaves.Glover admits to initially turning down the role as he felt the film showed slavery from a biased white perspective. "The issue of slavery is woven deep in the psyche of all Americans, and particularly of those who have been victimised by the system", he commented. "I hope that my and the other (black) actors involvement can make some significant contribution to the movie".There is a strong contingent of black British actors in the cast, despite Manderlay being base on US slavery. Mona Hammond (Eastenders, The Crouches, White Teeth), gives a strong, emotionally-charged performance as Wilma, particularly in the film's pivotal scene where Grace is forced to live by the democratic rules that she has set.Other British actors include Dona Croll (Family Affairs, Elmina's Kitchen), playing the character Venus, alongside Llewella Gideon (PorkPie, The Real McCoy) as Victoria .Manderlay's strength as a film is that it raises a lot of questions about the definition of slavery, particularly evident in the dramatic and unexpected twist at the film's end. Manderlay pushes the boundaries with its subject-matter and is compelling viewing as a result of Von Trier's film technique of 'televised theatre'. He uses only studio shots with a minimum of props, and the main action takes place exclusively on a huge map with crude black lines, depicting each southern-state, including Manderlay.The narrator-led story (using the voice of John Hurt), means that the actors' Shakespearean-style speech is minimal yet dramatic to make an impact. However, this also makes it difficult to empathise with any particular character, which is vital given the emotive topic of slavery. Despite this, Manderlay is a definite must-see film, if only to debate the meaning of slavery and how its far-reaching consequences today can be overcome.Manderlay makes the point that even if black people were physically freed from slavery, that they would never be socially or emotionally free, and given the same equal rights as whites. This theme could be a euphemism for Manderlay and the film industry as a whole; a black director is arguably more qualified to produce a film about slavery, yet he or she, is enslaved by a white film-industry that doesn't give equal opportunities to black actors or black film talent.Von Trier also recognises this inherent contradiction that he, as a white man is directing a film about slavery. "I am white, though I felt myself becoming a bit less so, as we went along", he recalls, "There is no doubt that the entire blame for oppression rests on the whites, but interestingly enough, every major town or city in the USA with respect for itself has a Holocaust museum, but none has a museum of the racial oppression that took place within the USA itself".Written By: Siane Daley