[Movie] Dogville: The Closed Community and the Alien Other

*This article touches upon the entire story of the movie "Dogville," including its ending. Please be aware if you have not seen it.

Introduction: What Happens in a Village That Looks Like a "Stage Play"

The 2003 film "Dogville," directed by Lars von Trier, is a highly strange work at first glance. To begin with, the setting abandons the realism of a typical film. The houses in the village have no walls or doors; there are only lines drawn on the ground with white chalk. The audience imagines those lines as boundaries, and the characters enter and exit them. This setting, as if a theatrical stage were turned directly into a film, creates a curious sense of distance for the audience.

The name of the village is "Dogville." One day, a mysterious woman named Grace, played by Nicole Kidman, suddenly appears in this small mountain community. She shows signs of running from something, but to the villagers, she is not a threat. In fact, at first, they even seem to welcome her arrival with a certain degree of warmth. However, this work is a fable about "what happens when an outsider comes to a community," and eventually, that acceptance becomes distorted, and the desires and fears lurking in the hearts of the villagers gradually reveal themselves.

"Dogville" is not merely the story of one woman. The existence of Grace is introduced as an experimental device to expose the "true nature" of the community. In other words, there is no problem with her herself. The problem lies in how the community faces the "alien other."

Trier positioned this film as the first part of his "USA Trilogy." Including the subsequent "Manderlay" and "Washington," the question he sought to explore was how institutions and ideals under the name of "democracy" can transform into violence and domination in human society. "Dogville" returns to the origin of that question, depicting how a "democracy of a small village" eventually treats an outsider who has come from the outside.

I. The Appearance of a Closed Community: The Duality of Stability and Fragility

The lives of the people living in the small village are stable. In Dogville, there are no major incidents, and there is almost no stimulation from the outside. They know each other thoroughly and spend every day in the same rhythm. That closed nature brings a sense of security on one hand, and gives the villagers the conviction that "this is where we belong."

However, stability is also fragility. The community only maintains its stability by excluding "foreign objects" from the outside, and that closed nature easily turns into an exclusionary attitude. The existence of the outside brings unexpected fluctuations to them. With the appearance of a woman named Grace, the order of the village begins to go awry little by little.

What should be noted here is that the villagers did not reject her from the beginning. Rather, at the initial stage, a sense of goodwill to "help her" is at work. For a community, accepting others is also an act of "proving their own humanity." Hidden here is the desire to confirm one's own virtue through others.

However, this goodwill gradually changes. An existence that was accepted at first for reasons such as "she might be useful" eventually becomes subordinated to the community under the logic that "she should work more" or "she has an obligation to repay her debt." In that process, the "true face" of the community is revealed.

The people of Dogville test their own power and reveal their desire for domination through an outsider who has come from the outside. It is not just about one woman; it is a microcosm of human society in general, regarding how a community treats an alien existence.

II. The Arrival of the Other and Transformation: When a "Problem-Free Existence" Is Problematized

Grace's appearance is accepted in a form almost close to a blessing at the beginning of the story. She is beautiful, polite, and shows no signs of harming the villagers. In other words, there is no "problem" with her herself. The problem is always outside of her, that is, in the gaze of the villagers.

At first, the villagers ask her to do light work. Taking care of children, or doing simple chores. She also willingly accepts this and gradually becomes accustomed to village life. What works here is the principle of communal life based on "mutual agreement."

However, the situation eventually begins to change. This is because anxiety sprouts that "risks" might arise from Grace being in the village. Is there someone chasing her? Will we suffer disadvantages by hiding her? As that suspicion spreads, the villagers strengthen the logic toward her that "she must be made more useful."

What is important here is the point that "democratic agreement" becomes a device that increases her burden as it is. When someone raises their voice, the majority agrees with it. Under the pretext that "it is fairer" or "it is better for the village," Grace is gradually made to be subordinate to the community. An agreement that should have been trivial at first eventually turns into domination that deprives her of her freedom.

This process vividly depicts how human society "problematizes" others. An existence that had no problems at first is eventually defined as a "person with risks," and stronger restrictions are imposed to manage those risks. Moreover, this is not done through violent coercion, but strictly through "everyone's agreement."

Here lies the pitfall of democracy. While upholding freedom and equality, it makes it possible for the agreement of the majority to thoroughly dominate a single minority. The change in the treatment Grace receives in the village symbolizes the difficulty of living with others.

III. The Irony of Democracy and Exposed Humanity: Violence Born from Agreement

The most shocking aspect of "Dogville" is that all the actions taken by the villagers are based on "consensus." They are not following a dictator. No one forced them to submit through power; rather, they follow because "everyone decided it together." Lurking within that is a certain cruelty inherent in democracy.

Consensus often wears the mask of "righteousness." Because it is the result of everyone discussing it, it must be fair and correct. However, "Dogville" exposes how this mechanism of justification—that "everyone decided it"—enables thorough domination and violence against others.

The labor imposed on Grace continues to increase, and eventually, she is driven to become an existence that bears the full weight of the villagers' desires. By going through the form of consensus, the villagers no longer feel guilt for their actions. Instead, they can believe that "we are doing the right thing." This is the horror of democracy.

Von Trier is by no means glorifying dictatorship or authoritarianism. Rather, what he depicts is the harsh reality that even in a system called "democracy," human nature does not change. Even when filtered through the devices of consensus or majority rule, if the desires and dominance of the people living there run wild, the result can only be cruel. In other words, it is not the system itself, but the ethics of the people who support the system that are being questioned.

IV. The Shock of the Final Scene: Between Revenge and Responsibility

In the final stages of the story, Grace's true identity is finally revealed. She is the daughter who fled from her father, a gang boss, and had taken refuge in the village to reject his power. However, having been subjected to the violence and domination of the villagers, she eventually returns to her father, takes hold of his power, and passes judgment on the village.

Gunshots ring out in the village at night, and every single resident of Dogville loses their life. The houses are burned, and only one dog survives—that is the end of the story.

How to interpret this ending is left to the audience. Is revenge justice? Or was she simply swallowed up by the cycle of violence as well? The shock of the final scene forces this question upon the audience.

However, what is important is that the issue of "responsibility" emerges here. The villagers dominated Grace and exercised violence through consensus. So, who bears that responsibility? Because each individual dispersed the responsibility by saying "everyone decided it," in the end, no one took responsibility. As a result, they were judged as a whole.

Condensed here is a fundamental problem inherent in democracy. Because what is decided by consensus or majority rule is considered "everyone's responsibility," it conversely becomes "no one's responsibility." The location of responsibility is left hanging. It is the violent judgment of the final scene that appears as if to shatter that void.

V. Perspective as a Democracy Trilogy: Between the Individual and the Public

"Dogville," along with the subsequent "Manderlay" and "Washington," is called the "USA Trilogy." Through the trilogy, what von Trier questions is not the limits of democracy as a system, but the ethical problem of how the humans living within it "face the other."

"Manderlay" depicts a community burdened by the history of slavery, and it is imagined that the unproduced "Washington" would have placed American democracy itself on the chopping block. "Dogville," placed at the starting point, can be said to be a work that dissects the difficulty of coexistence with others, set in the most primitive form of a community.

We also live in small "Dogvilles" in our daily lives. Schools, workplaces, local communities—there, consensus is often valued, and the alien existence is treated as a "problem." However, what is being questioned there is not the system, but the individual's attitude. Not to avoid responsibility by hiding behind consensus, but to face the other in light of one's own reason and ethics. I believe that the accumulation of such actions is the path to truly making democracy work.

The final scene of "Dogville" presents an image of violent judgment, but what we should learn from it is the question of "how can we avoid reaching violence?" In other words, how do we take responsibility as individuals and as members of the public to make democracy better? The question this film leaves with the audience is by no means limited to despair, but is also a call to a positive challenge.

In Conclusion: "What Would We Do?"

"Dogville" is a fable that depicts how a closed community transforms and how human nature is revealed through one woman who comes from the outside. Von Trier coldly captured the process by which consensus and democracy produce violence. But at the same time, this film asks us, "What would you do if you were in that situation?"

Not to exclude the other, nor to make responsibility ambiguous, but to respond to the other with one's own reason and ethics. Each step of that is the only path to living together beyond violence.

When I think back on this film late at night, along with the heavy questions, a small hope also emerges. It is our individual choices and responsibilities, not the system, that shape the community of the future—that may be the deepest message that "Dogville" throws at us.