Manderlay - LVT's S

[Ghostboy]

I think they're available on iTunes or something. Bad marketing move, in my opinion - the first twenty minutes are beyond forced, and nearly sink the whole film before it gets started.

[grand theft sparrow]

I think they're available on iTunes or something. Bad marketing move, in my opinion

The idea in and of itself is a bad marketing idea.  Great for LvT fans who can't wait to see it but think about if they had done that with any of Lars' films.  I don't think anyone who wouldn't already like Lars would be interested in seeing one of his films just by having a chance to watch the first 10 minutes.  If anything, most people would be scared away.  Perfect example, my mother wanted to see Dogville because she's a big Nicole Kidman fan.  She wouldn't have lasted 30 minutes, an hour at the most. 

And speaking of this mythical first 10 minutes of Manderlay, I tried downloading it from iTunes but it gave me a trailer for King Kong instead.  Anyone else get this?

[matt35mm]

And speaking of this mythical first 10 minutes of Manderlay, I tried downloading it from iTunes but it gave me a trailer for King Kong instead.  Anyone else get this?

That is the first 10 minutes of Manderlay.

[MacGuffin]

The starlet, the wizard, and the buzz
By Mark Olsen, Los Angeles Times

Danish director Lars von Trier is famously phobic about traveling by plane, and though a number of his films have been set in the United States, he has never set foot on American soil.

He's also legendarily thorny and argumentative in interviews. But ask him about his latest leading actress, 24-year-old Bryce Dallas Howard, and he shows a gentler side.
 
"I'm not going to say anything bad about Bryce, so you can just forget it," he joked during a recent phone interview.

Howard, star of "The Village" and daughter of director Ron Howard, has signed on for the role of Grace in "Manderlay," the latest missive from Von Trier, due in theaters next month. The film is the second in a proposed trilogy. (In the previous film, "Dogville," the role of Grace was played by Nicole Kidman.)

The pairing of Von Trier, 49, and Howard has generated plenty of buzz. After all, there's just something irresistible about the idea of a budding starlet on-the-rise, a scion of Hollywood's own, no less, falling under the wizard-like tutelage of one of international cinema's most fearsome and irascible filmmakers.

Von Trier thinks that perhaps it is easier for younger actresses like Howard to put up with him.

"When you're that young, I think you wouldn't be scared off. When you're very young, you don't care what happens to you as long as you go in the right direction. Furthermore, there is nothing to be scared about, since I am the most kind person you could ever meet."

Switching directions, he added, "That is, of course, not true, but almost. Like in 'The Silence of the Lambs.' I don't eat actresses."

For a punch line, he changed tack once more.

"Not without a nice Chianti."

Despite the reputation that precedes him — cemented in part by a string of fiery press conferences at his usual stamping grounds at the Cannes Film Festival — when he came on the line for the recent phone interview, the man on the other end couldn't have been more charming or pleasant to speak with, chirping happily in a slightly singsong cadence.

Set in the 1930s, "Dogville" found Grace, daughter of a ruthless gangster, hiding out in a remote mountain village, where the film's unusual ascetic staging flowered into a sharp fable about the nature of society-building and ended with Grace burning the town to the ground. "Manderlay" is shot in the same style, utilizing an open-plan soundstage with bare-bones sets to convey a mixed sense of theatrical gravitas and dreamlike ambiguity.

This time Grace lands in a walled-off Southern plantation where slavery remains decades after the end of the Civil War, and she takes it upon herself to change things. While it can be difficult for audiences to get past the scab-picking of a story that deals with race relations in America, underneath is another allegorical tale of power and its abuses, and the often broad chasm between intentions and results.

Speaking at the Toronto International Film Festival in September, Howard explained that she has long been a fan of Von Trier's films. When the opportunity came up to audition for "Manderlay" she jumped at the chance, if for no other reason than that it meant she might meet the director and get an early chance to see the then-unreleased "Dogville."

She expressed some surprise at his reputation for being difficult, as she says she never encountered that side of Von Trier.

As Howard explained, "He has this personality that's been created for himself by the press that's completely not related to the man I know at all. I've never experienced anything like it in my life.

"He's just really thoughtful and sweet and caring and would do things like, if a scene was emotionally too difficult for me he would keep pushing and get some extraordinary things out of me, but then he would stop and allow me to have a healthy night. What kind of filmmaker would stop for the sake of their actress?"

"Dogville" was dogged by accusations of anti-Americanism, and it could be expected that "Manderlay" will be met by a similar response. As to whether she was ever able to pick Von Trier's brain for his true feelings and intentions on the matter, Howard said she struck out.

"Lars keeps things incredibly separate," she replied. "There's not much discussion about the script at all. You'll shoot for the day and then go have dinner. At dinner, if I'd bring up anything about the shoot or ask a question about the next day, he'd say, 'Oh, why do you want to ruin dinner by talking about work?' So I never really got around to any of that stuff."

Shooting on digital video, Von Trier will run through a scene over and over again, often prodding his performers along from behind the camera during each take.

Part of the mystique of Von Trier's work is the notion that he pushes his actresses to their very limits, drawing out work of an emotional intensity and rawness that few others are able to achieve. His films have never produced a performance from a male actor as noted as those he has elicited from previous female collaborators such as Kidman, Björk or Emily Watson.

Asked why he seems to work better with female performers than their male counterparts, he joked around for a bit before settling in to a real, reasoned response.

"We kind of make the film together," he explained, "and that is a way that demands you give in to the project and give in to the director. That may be why I, for some reason, have an easier time with women, because if they are convinced you are doing the right thing, it's easier for them somehow to give in. Which is positive or negative, however you want to see it, but that is a difference there.

"It depends on how much imagination you have as an actor, and I think that imagination — now I'm saying something I will probably regret about men and women — but I think maybe the actresses I have met have been very good at staying in the situation even when talking to me and doing things again and again and again. Where a man would try to control a scene more, I think. Of course it is not always true, but both Nicole and Bryce were very good at trying things that were even wrong, which I think would be more difficult with a man."

[MacGuffin]

Trailer here.

[Pubrick]

Trailer here.

Looking for something at Apple.com?
The page you tried was not found. You may have used an outdated link or may have typed the address (URL) incorrectly. You might find what you're looking for in one of these areas..

(then when u go to the main trailer page and click manderlay again it says the same thing.. maybe it was too snide afterall)

[MacGuffin]

Seems to be working fine now.

[modage]

I really hated this movie.  If Dogville was at best a bold experiment and at worst a pretentious play on film, this is just a lame retread.  I don't know where the TRILOGY is going from here but Dogville felt much more powerful as a 3rd act and not the 1st.  And atleast Dogville had some interesting actors who have been replaced here by mostly unrecognizable actors playing former slaves and arent given much to do.  Lauren Bacall, Chloe Sevingy and Jeremy Davies pop up in cameo's but only for a moment.  Bryce Dallas's acting seemed a bit more stagey than Nicole Kidmans which made it a lot harder to stay with the film.  Even for a director like Von Trier, who I'm not completely sold on, he really seems to be wasting his time here.  It seems like something you flip past on PBS and not an important film.  Boring.  I won't be checking out the final installment barring a miracle. 

[grand theft sparrow]

And atleast Dogville had some interesting actors who have been replaced here by mostly unrecognizable actors playing former slaves and arent given much to do.

modage doesn't care about black people.

[MacGuffin]

Bryce Dallas Howard is the gorgeous and talented ingénue born of Hollywood royalty but has taken the art film world by storm with her powerful performance in Lars Von Trier’s Manderlay.

Manderlay is set in 1933 in the deep south of the US. Grace [Bryce Dallas Howard] and her gangster father had left the township of Dogville behind them. By chance their cars stop in the state of Alabama in front of a large hose. Grace finds that this house still practices slavery. She uses her father’s thugs to free the slaves. But they have been slaves all their life and are confused as to what to do next.

Daniel Robert Epstein: How did you get involved with Manderlay?

Bryce Dallas Howard: I was doing As You Like It here in New York. Blair Brown is one of my best friends and she acted in Dogville. She recommended to [producer] Vibeke Windeløv that I should audition for it. So even before I shot The Village I put myself on tape. Then while I was shooting The Village, Lars [Von Trier] flew me out one weekend to audition for him in Denmark. It was a crazy experience to be in the middle of one thing and then to fly out and come back after meeting Lars. It was fun.

DRE: Did you have any trepidations about accepting the role?

Howard: Taking the role was completely a non-issue because I think Lars is a genius and I just wanted to be a part of that. But I was nervous because I had heard so many rumors about Lars and his style of working. But I’m so tired of people who are really nice but whose work is really crappy. So to come to the studio in Sweden and be taken care of and nurtured and be met with such tremendous kindness is really almost weird. I wasn't prepared for that.

DRE: Had you seen Dogville before getting involved?

Howard: I had.

DRE: How did that affect your performance?

Howard: Lars made it clear to me that he wanted to create something completely new and that I shouldn’t feel burdened by trying to mimic a previously brilliant performance. That would've made me feel very conflicted and confused. We were trying to create a very different Grace than what Nicole had done in Dogville. Then there'll be a completely different Grace created in Wasington which is the third in his trilogy. I watched Dogville and I studied [Kidman's] performance more because I really respected what she did as an actress. Then I was free to do my best to do my own thing.

DRE: What was the audition like?

Howard: He actually brought in one of his friends to do a few scenes with me. We just went through them and started improvising while he shot and it actually got kind of hilarious. When you give two actors an opportunity to improvise for three hours they'll just become totally crude and absurd. But that was what the experience was like. I was just honored to meet him. I thought that if that was going to be the extent of my relationship with Lars Von Trier then I was satisfied. He's an incredible man and it was even better to work with him.

DRE: How is he incredible?

Howard: He's become one of my dear friends. He fiercely supported my growth as a friend and as an actor. He's very gentle and very compassionate. He's fierce about his work so he’s an ambitious filmmaker and I'm a huge admirer.

DRE: Did you rehearse for this?

Howard: Lars doesn't rehearse but that's fun for an actor. It makes you use your imagination. He prepared us by screening Dogville and giving us the script for Manderlay.

DRE: You had your first nude scene in this, how was doing that?

Howard: I’m a bit of a prude but I coped with it because I trusted and continue to trust what Lars does. I felt like it was a really important scene and this film is bigger than who I am and my own ego and prudishness. During the sex scene I was kind of curled up in a fetal position and Lars said, “Well, I got Grace’s pain in that take” [laughs]. I viewed it as if you’re doing a sketch on Saturday Night Live because I’ll do anything to be funny and most people will. They’ll do ridiculous things that they can’t be held accountable for. So I just started to look at it as a sort of comedic scene and interestingly enough, Lars kind of felt that. The scene wasn’t written funny at all, but there are some really eccentric and absurd moments where people tend to chuckle.

DRE: What did your dad think of that scene?

Howard: My father was very proud and impressed by the film but he watched that scene with his hands over his eyes. But he's impressed with artists who push the boundaries so he’s glad that I'm a part of that.

DRE: I watched the Museum Of The Moving Image Salute to your father last week. I realized that in a lot of the ways you are living one of the great American dreams. There were a lot of friendly and well meaning people at the tribute including yourself. There is a Lars Von Trier retrospective coming up in Manhattan titled “Well meaning people are dangerous” which of course is the essence of many of his films including Manderlay. How do you see Lars’ vision of America?

Howard: I have to make it clear that I don't know nor will I never know what Lars’ view of America is because I'm not inside of his head. However, that being said I feel encouraged by his view of America because he's taking a stance for things that aren't just occurring in America, but everywhere in the world. I think that this is a very exciting time right now in every nation of the world. We can start making certain choices that are moving towards a certain way of life and becoming aware of these troubling behaviors that are causing devastating effects. What I'm specifically referring to is the subtle racism that's going on because no one will ever admit that there is an aftermath of slavery that we haven't solved in any way. I think Lars, in a way, views himself as American therefore he feels like he's entitled and responsible for talking about these issues. Lars is not into creating a very specific message and sending that message out as a solution. He's into creating problems and generating conflicts, that will drive people into creating solutions.

DRE: Did doing this inform your politics or viewpoints at all?

Howard: It did when I was offered this film because I had only started voting a few months before. Before I voted I didn't really have a voice and so I wasn't political. It didn't necessarily change my opinion of anything, but my opinions grew and I would say that my knowledge grew and it continues to grow and shift. I will make a decision about something and then I realize that I'm actually wrong and then I make another decision and realize that I was totally misinformed.

DRE: I read that certain African-American actors including Danny Glover turned this film down a number of times.

Howard: Famously, Lars had difficulty getting African-Americans to sign on and play these parts after they read the script. I'm not sure why that is. Danny refused a bunch of times. But it's mostly an international cast. There are like four Black Americans in this out of 12. Obviously, that implies that is some reluctance on the part of American actors to take the part.

DRE: Do you have any personal experiences with racism?

Howard: The first time I understood what racism is, was in Louisiana. A lot of my family is from the South and I was in a car with some of my grandfather's friends. They were great and wonderful people and I was having the best time with them. At one point we were driving past a school and we saw a very young black mother pushing a carriage with her daughter, who with her very light skin obviously had a white father. This one woman who I really liked and respected, said “That's disgusting!” I was just like, “What?” She said “To bring mixed babies into this world is disgusting. I don't have anything against that young mother but for her to bring a mixed child into this world is unfair and cruel.” I was so confused. It was really bizarre for me, because I had been raised in an environment where we never even thought about the color of people's skin. It was really surreal, but I ended up having tremendous prejudice against the South. Just because of that moment and that remark, everybody seemed really soiled.

DRE: Did you make up a back story for your character?

Howard: I did but then I had to ignore it immediately because of the way that Lars' shoots. It was very simple. It was that she's extraordinarily determined and she's extraordinarily emotional and when those two things mix together she becomes myopic and makes mistakes that have devastating consequences.

DRE: The Village shares of a lot of themes with Manderlay, such as isolationism and once again, well meaning people making bad and rash decisions. Is that a coincidence?

Howard: Oh yeah, entirely. It's interesting though. But Lars and Night were not in communication at all [laughs].

DRE: How are they similar as filmmakers?

Howard: Different in many ways and similar in many ways. They were different in the way that they shoot because Night has a tendency to rehearse quite a bit and then do one very long shot of a scene. Lars will create a performance in the editing room based on many takes. As far as personalities, there's a similarity there because they’re both deeply good, wonderful filmmakers and men who are writer/directors and producers of their own work. So it is truly their own voice and that's unique. There aren't many filmmakers like that.

DRE: How does Lars communicate on set?

Howard: Very sparse. He would say, “100 percent less. 300 percent less.” [laughs] “Two percent more.” But he gives you infinite support and you feel that. It's almost like a parent with a child. When the parent is encouraging the child can grow. That's Lars.
Lars and I are similar in that we both punish ourselves in many ways. When he was growing up, his parents were very unrestricting. They didn't have rules and so he had to set his own rules and boundaries. My parents were very strict, but not with ideas. They really wanted us to form our own ideas about the world and I think that's why I am so aggressive about educating myself and becoming the best form of myself that I can.

DRE: Was the film shot in sequence?

Howard: Not at all. I remember Lars saying “Bryce, during every sequence you manage to find the perfect spot on set and do the entire scene from that place.” He doesn't say where you'll be blocked or anything like that.

DRE: How was it working with M. Night again on Lady in the Water?

Howard: It was great. Even better and juicier because he knows my instrument very well and knows how to push me.

DRE: What directors do you want to work with?

Howard: I would love to work with directors that take a genre and stylistically changing them. I love what Sam Raimi is doing with the Spider-Man franchise. I think that’s fascinating. I love Sofia Coppola and how she's found her own voice. I love being a part of a filmmaker’s vision.

DRE: Are there actors you aspire to be like?

Howard: That’s difficult because I try not to idolize actors because then I put a separation between myself and them and I don't want to do that. I look at what Meryl Streep does and I'm like, "Where did she begin? How did she do that? How could she do that?" Then I just start to feel frustration and anxiety and ultimately depression because I can't do that. But if I start to idolize her or put her on a pedestal, then I completely cancel out the possibility that one day I might be able to have some insight into her work. The moment I admire someone too much I start to think I'll never get close and then I stop trying. My only wish for myself is that I always keep trying; I don't have to ever get there. I have to be honest, I’m never going to get to the same level that Cate Blanchett or Nicole Kidman or Meryl Streep are. But I have to think somewhere in the back of my head that if I keep trying, one day it might be possible, because then I'll be able to push myself further.

[Jeremy Blackman]

I get to see this Saturday.

http://calendar.walkerart.org/event.wac?id=2597

Very excited...

[Pozer]

When does my Orange County ass get to see it?

[samsong]

@ the ifc center:

MANDERLAY opens Friday, January 27.

Lars von Trier in live on-screen Q&A Saturday, January 28 & Sunday, January 29 at noon shows!

[modage]

haha, i saw that.  LIVE (on screen) Q&A!   what a pussy.  just get on the plane. 

[grand theft sparrow]

haha, i saw that.  LIVE (on screen) Q&A!   what a pussy.  just get on the plane. 

I think Nostradamus predicted that Lars in the US is a sign of the apocalypse.

The King will want to enter the new city
He will find it inhabited by dogs
The oceans will crash upon the shores
And he shall dance only after sundown.

Or something like that.