With Lars von Trier's
Dogville set to open March 26 via Lions Gate in New York and Los Angeles, the second installment of his "USA Trilogy,"
Manderlay, begins production today through May 1 at
Film i Vast in Trollhattan, near Gothenburg, Sweden.
The $15-million film, produced by Vibeke Windelov for
Zentropa, deals with the issue of slavery in America's deep South. "But since the film is taking place in the '30s," says von Trier, "and, as you know, slavery was not legal then -- it's kind of... aaah... it's a little bit more... funny. It's kind of a comedy!"
Ron Howard's 21-year-old daughter
Bryce Dallas Howard (
The Village,
Book of Love) was cast as Grace, the film's lead, after Nicole Kidman opted out of the remaining installments of the trilogy, reportedly due to scheduling conflicts. The film also stars Danny Glover, Issach De Bankole, John C. Reilly, Jeremy Davies, Lauren Bacall, Chloe Sevigny, Jean-Marc Barr and Udo Kier.
The third of a series of film cycles begun in 1984 with the "Europa Trilogy" (
The Element of Crime,
Epidemic, and
Zentropa -- which takes its name from an imaginary, huge rail network created in 1912 by the Hartmann family in Germany) about Western Europe after World War II, and continuing with the "Gold Heart Trilogy" (
Breaking the Waves,
The Idiots and
Dancer in the Dark), inspired by a sentimental children's book from von Trier's childhood about a little girl who is always ready to sacrifice herself to help others, von Trier's "USA Trilogy," set in the Great Depression of the 1930s, "could be described as a depiction of a woman's development to maturity," says the director.
With
Manderlay, von Trier intends to continue to employ the Brechtian style he employed for
Dogville, using as many as 100 cameras to film on soundstages with theatrical props instead of traditional movie sets or exteriors. The film is being lensed by
Anthony Dod Mantle.
Zentropa is also developing
Dear Wendy, the fourth feature from Dogme 95 co-founder Thomas Vinterberg (
The Celebration), from a script by von Trier and Vinterberg, starring Jamie Bell and Bill Pullman. The film tells the story of Dick (Bell), an ingenious teenager, who upon losing his father finds an unusual friend and confidant in the unlikely shape of a toy pistol which he names "Wendy".
# posted by Steve Gallagher @ 3/08/2004 01:41:00 PM
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