International Irish Film Festival
"Dogville" at the Irish Film Institute, Dublin
(by Laurence Borgmann)

Whether you loved the film or fell asleep during the three hours - I think the film Dogville left none of our group indifferent. The programme had already promised an unusual experience:
"Like some perverse digital video cousin of Thornton Wilder's famous play Our Town, it comes on like a slice of classic Americana, set during the Great Depression, where the good folks of Dogville are just about getting by, until the arrival of a fugitive stranger Grace (Nicole Kidman) changes everything"

This arrival starts the shocking portrait of the small God-fearing community of Dogville. As Grace depends on the charity of the town people the price she has to pay for their hospitality rises to obscene heights and she is turned into a kind of slave of the little town.
Lars von Trier uses a video-like moving camera and a film set which reminded me of some experimental Peter Brook plays which I watched in London in the eighties. To call the set minimalistic would not be exaggerated as the scene and props are mostly inexistent and are cleverly represented by lines on the floor and writing on the floor. Instead of a real dog we see the contours of a dog with the word DOG next to it - however, we do hear the barking. The film is segmented in chapters that tell us in advance what is going to happen in this section, much like in the early English novels I remember from my literature classes.
Exploitation of people in need is the main topic and the self-righteousness with which this exploitation of Grace is explained away by the inhabitants of Dogville. Personally, I found the plot very moving and the style spectacularly different from anything I had seen in cinema before. The others in the group were a lot less enthusiastic and found it far too long and weird. In any case it was an interesting experience. The programme had promised:
"You'll be arguing about this brilliant, blistering piece of filmmaking for weeks afterwards. Miss it and miss out."

Laurence Borgmann

Intercultural Tea Experience

This afternoon in the "Lord Mayors Lounge" of the Shelbourne Hotel we had the opportunity to experience the traditional five o'clock tea, which is part of the English aristocratic cultural heritage in Ireland, We all were very impressed by the interior of the lounge and enjoyed looking at the paintings and listening to the piano music.At first sight we did not believe our eyes because the woman who played the piano looked as "traditional" as the interior of the hotel. We felt a little bit uncomfortable as we noticed that we might not have the appropriate attire for this environment.