Ahoy, squirts! Quint here with Unk again, this time he sends his first fully positive review! I'm a little torn, though, because Unk seems to love Dogme filmmaking whereas I hate it with a passion. I think Dogme is a great practice tool for new filmmakers to understand just HOW IMPORTANT lighting, score, etc are to films. I respect filmmakers like Lars Von Trier for using the experimental/Dogme style almost as a calling card, but I really don't like the idea of making movies look and sound shitty on purpose. However, I think DEAR WENDY sounds like a really cool and interesting film taking the best aspects of Dogme filmmaking (the focus on the script) without making it a Dogme film. What do you folks think?
Sundance Report - Day two ( Thomas Vintenberg's (spell?) "Dear Wendy")
This waiting line thing is really being worthwhile. Today I saw what's probably one of the best movies in the festival, if not the best - for 5 bucks less than the regular price.
"Dear Wendy". It's all you would expect from a movie written by Lars Von Trier and directed by Thomas Vintenberg - even more.
Mini-review - 5 stars out of 5.
Very, very good film. Not as good as Dogville, but still... well... "probably one of the best movies in the festival, if not the best", as I just told you.
I'm not spoiling this one for you. It's worth seeing. And maybe you're a curious person, who would not resist the temptation and would keep reading my spoilers anyway. I don't want that to happen. I want you to "have" to watch this one. All I'm saying about this piece today, is what the official Sundance website says:
Thomas Vinterberg returns to Sundance (It's All About Love screened in 2003) with a brand-new vision that succeeds both viscerally and intellectually. Imaginatively merging genres into a highly atmospheric love story between a boy and his gun, Vinterberg, along with screenwriter Lars von Trier, concocts a riveting allegory about the corruptible power of man's deadly invention.
Dick, an 18-year-old loner, lives in a blue-collar American mining town. When he happens upon a small handgun one day, he finds himself strangely drawn to it, despite his fervent pacifist views. Together with his newfound partner, he soon convinces the other young outcasts in the town to join him in a secret club he calls The Dandies, a club based on the principles of pacifism and guns. Despite their firm belief in the most important Dandy rule of allthe club members soon find themselves in a predicament where they realize that rules are made to be broken.
Dear Wendy possesses such creative audacity, such a flow of ideas and provocative observations that it will both challenge and satisfy you. At turns adventurous, playful, theatrical, and serious, this inspired combination of biting commentary and cinematic reverie is such a singular vision that every frame bursts with imagery and ideas. With splendid cinematography inspired by Edward Curtis's controversial American Indian photographs, Vinterberg lushly creates a world lost in time but poignantly relative today.— Trevor Groth
Okay, maybe I'll say a little more, since you've read the entire description, and is still eager for more...
But I'do no more than bring to your attention a few things that you may not notice, when you watch Dear Wendy by yourself.
Why is this film not as great as Dogville?
In my opinion, mainly because.... It is not "Dogmatic" enough.
What?
Yep. What I said. It does not follow the Dogme guidelines as close as it should. I can see "Dear Wendy" being much more effective, without its distracting soundtrack, for instance. This film is a bit too "conventional" for my taste. Not too much - like I said it is a very, very good movie. But I would prefer if it were more faithfull to Trier's and Vintenberg's traditional style.
After all... If you decide to leave your home and go to the movies watch a film by an unconventional, daring "anti-American" Danish screenwriter (Hi there Mr. Trier!), you want it to be all the way unconventional, daring and anti-American. And not only half way through.
Oops. And like I said... The movie is an "anti-American" piece.
Definately. Like Dogville is.
MAYBE THESE ARE SPOILERS, I'M NOT SURE. GO AHEAD AT YOUR OWN RISK.
There's a "secret message" in this film, a "metaphor":
The main character represents America. The guns represent... well... The guns, the power, the weapons America has... And the manner in which the main character behaves, once he's got a hold of the guns, represents the transformation of America. From the founding father's democracy to the, alleged, current right-wing gun-nut mentality.
But the good thing about this metaphor is: You won't notice it, unless you look for it. - This means you can still take your right-wing gun nuts friends to watch "Dear Wendy" and have them enjoy it. The film can be seen as no more than a well-made cautionary tale about a boy that finds a gun and becomes dependent of it.
Wait a minute... I'm having second thoughts here... Let me think for a few seconds.
Okay, maybe it is, in fact, no more than that. Maybe I'm imagining things. Maybe "Dear Wendy" really is... no more than a cautionary tale about boys with guns... Maybe the main character represents the main character. And the guns represent the guns. And his transformation represents no more than his own transformation...
Well.... Q & A time. Let me ask Thomas what he has to say about all that - since he said, before the movie started, in his speech, that America has "something special about it"... And blamed Von Trier's absence on no more than his fear of flying...
Damnit. He only answered 5 questions. Mine will go unanswered.
Well, at least I had the chance to shake Vintenberg's hand and tell him what a great movie he has made, regardless of whatever hidden message it may have.
Here's Thomas, entering his car, leaving our question unanswered:
Or maybe not... Since his last words after the Questions & Answers were something in the veins of: "this film holds a political message that we'll talk about later..."
Well. Go watch it, and write back once you've got the answer.
My final words: Did you like Dogville? Go watch this one then!
