The 2003 movie Quentin Tarantino called “one of the greatest scripts” in history
By now, Quentin Tarantino has discussed cinema so much that he himself has pretty much become a walking encyclopaedia of the history of Hollywood. Through several interviews and features with the director, we have come to learn of his most cherished films and filmmakers and his biggest inspirations.
For instance, we know that Tarantino loves Asian cinema, particularly the works of Hong Kong legend John Woo and also Japanese films such as Battle Royale. The director also admires the work of his own country, too, particularly the starkly differing realms of the old western and the grindhouse movies of the 1970s.
The bread and butter of any great film, though, is a great script, for what is a movie without a story to tell? When it comes to Tarantino’s favourite films in terms of having great writing, it looks as though there is one clear winner: Lars von Trier film Dogville.
While picking out the best films between 1992, when Tarantino himself became a filmmaker and 2009, the director said of the 2003 film Dogville, “Seven would be Lars von Trier’s Dogville, which I think is maybe one of the greatest scripts ever for a film.”
“I actually think if he had actually done it on the stage, he would have won a Pulitzer prize.”
Quentin Tarantino on Dogville
It’s high praise indeed from the American director for his Danish counterpart. The film stars an ensemble cast including Nicole Kidman, Lauren Bacall, Paul Bettany and Chloë Sevigny.
Also featured in von Trier’s movie are Stellan Skarsgård, Udo Kiet, Ben Gazzara, Harriet Anderson and James Caan. Meanwhile, John Hurt provides the film’s narration. It’s understandable to see why Tarantino felt that von Trier could have put his story on stage rather than on film.
This is because it features a minimalist stage set in order to tell the tale of Nicole Kidman’s Grace Mulligan, a woman who is seeking shelter from gangsters. She arrives in Dogville, a small town in Colorado and is granted the refuge she seeks in exchange for her physical toil.
When Dogville premiered, its visual style divided audiences almost as much as its subject matter. Rather than constructing a traditional town, von Trier famously reduced Dogville to little more than chalk outlines drawn across a soundstage floor. For viewers accustomed to lavish period dramas and Hollywood realism, the approach could feel jarring, but, of course, that was precisely the point.
Dogville is told through nine distinct chapters, plus an introductory prologue and von Trier pays homage to many literary works of the 19th century in the way that each chapter is accompanied by a short descriptive heading. There’s an elegance and simplicity to von Trier’s film, but it boasts a strong script, which is certainly why Tarantino admires it so.
It’s also easy to see why the film would appeal to Tarantino. For all his reputation as a stylist, some of his finest work has always revolved around what happens when characters are trapped together and forced to talk. Whether it is the criminals of Reservoir Dogs arguing in a warehouse or the uneasy conversations that drive The Hateful Eight, Tarantino has long trusted dialogue to generate tension. Dogville operates in a similar spirit, proving that a compelling screenplay can hold an audience’s attention even when many of the conventional tools of cinema have been deliberately removed.
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