In medieval times, it was said that the poet or songwriter was a man of great power. If a king angered him, he would pen a scathing lyric about the unfortunate monarch, and show it to everyone. Obviously, his majesty could then have relieved the poet of his head, but by then the lyric would have passed into folklore and the king would be forever mocked. Maybe today the film writer has a similar power, but without the same element of risk.

Lars Von Trier said he made Dogville at least partially in response to American provocation. He was criticised by American journalists for setting his previous film, Dancer in the Dark, in the USA despite the fact that he had never been there. To Von Trier, this was unfair, as he suspected that the makers of Casablanca for example, had never visited Morocco.

Dogville is an intensely dark film that examines how people can take advantage of the power they have over one who is indebted to them, and yes it is set in the USA. Grace (Nicole Kidman) arrives in the town of Dogville, on the run from mysterious gangsters. She befriends Tom (Paul Bettany) who convinces the townspeople to take her in, and in return Grace is happy to help each of them in turn with their daily chores. Initially they are slow to adjust to this, and Grace makes great efforts to win their trust. Eventually they see her as an equal, but as the film progresses, the balance continues to shift. Grace becomes their slave, and they proceed to deceive and take advantage of her in a variety of ways.

While this goes on, Tom comes up with a sequence of ideas to help Grace, but each one just leaves her deeper in the black pit that is Dogville. His motives are initially good but he fails to see that he is putting his own intentions ahead of rescuing Grace, until eventually he becomes almost blind to her suffering and conspires to keep her in Dogville.

Lars Von Trier says that the main inspiration for Dogville was the song “Pirate Jenny” by Bertolt Brecht. The song describes how a town mistreats a girl until she is rescued by a band of pirates. The pirates then let her decide how the town is to be repaid for mistreating her – with forgiveness or revenge? As the director has made it clear that Dogville is a film about revenge, I won’t be revealing a great secret if I tell you that Grace gets her revenge too, but even knowing that, there are enough twists and sub-plots in this film to keep your attention.

Professing a love for theatre on film, Von Trier decided that the entire film would take place on a single set, with minimal props. Dogville is mapped out in chalk on the ground. Houses do not exist as such, only outlines of where the walls would be. Even the dog is a chalk outline on the ground, rather like at a crime scene. The lighting is appropriately dark throughout the entire film, and there is nothing but darkness surrounding the perimeters of Dogville. All of this sounds strange, but it achieves the director’s stated aim of focusing the viewer’s attention on the acting and the dialogue. After a while, you no longer notice the absence of things like walls, roofs and natural light. In an age where so many films are dominated by special effects and stunts, it is a stunning reminder of the origins of good cinema. It also allows for a few unique stage tricks, such as the scene where Chuck (Stellan Skarsgård) first takes advantage of Grace. He does so on one corner of the stage, while a few meters away, oblivious to what is happening behind (imaginary) doors, the remainder of the cast go about their business. This must have been an incredibly difficult scene to act. While they can see the rape scene being played out in front of them, their parts demand that they pretend the doors and walls are blocking out the sights and sounds.

In Dogville, Nicole Kidman gives the performance of her career. Her portrayal of a girl who stoically bears the hardships placed upon her, while torn by the ‘frying pan vs fire’ dilemma she finds herself in, and innocently placing her trust in Tom, is utterly convincing. Paul Bettany plays Tom, and he too is perfect in his role, cool and calculating. The supporting cast includes such talents as Ben Gazzara, Lauren Bacall and James Caan, and a particularly menacing performance from Danish actor Stellan Skarsgård. John Hurt provides the voice-over for the film, and demonstrates why he is an actor whose mere voice carries weight.

The film ends with a beautiful twist, where we discover exactly who Grace was running from and the reason behind the pursuit. Grace then undergoes a transformation from meek compliant servant to cruel avenging angel, conveyed in an entirely convincing fashion by Kidman. If you enjoy irony and black humour, watch out for Grace passing verdict on Vera, the lady who earlier smashed her figurine collection.

Dogville is an excellent film in all respects, but it’s not fun in the normal sense. It has few laughs, but is instead a probing questioning piece of work. The characters and the themes will stay with you long after the final credits have rolled. I strongly recommend that you see it at your earliest convenience. As Grace says, “some things you have to do yourself”.