Movies - Manderlay

Home > Listing Index > Movies > Manderlay

	Movies - Manderlay

Manderlay is a sequel to the movie Dogville
. It is the second part of Lars Von Trier's trilogy USA - Land of Opportunities
. Bryce Dallas Howard replaces Nicole Kidman in the role of Grace. The movie also features Willem Dafoe and Lauren Bacall (among others) in supporting roles.

Staging

The staging is very similar to Dogville
. Shot on an extremely minimal soundstage with no walls, Manderlay's mise en scene differs from its predecessor with the inclusion of horse, a mule, and a sandstorm. The geography of the film has a much larger range as well. Dogville covered only a small town, while Manderlay covers several separate locations on an entire plantation.

Plot summary

Shortly after burning Dogville to the ground, Grace (Bryce Dallas Howard) and her father (Willem Dafoe) stop at an Alabama plantation called Manderlay. Apparently slavery is still in place, even though it should have been abolished 70 years previous. Grace is very concerned with freeing the slaves, while her father, ever the pragmatist, wants to press on and let it remain a local matter. Grace doesn't listen and uses her father's gangsters to free the plantation. Mam, the master of the house Lauren Bacall, dies shortly after, leaving frightened bickering slaves. It's soon obvious that slaves are never actually free, but given a purely symbolic kind of "employment." Grace stays at Manderlay, and with the help of her father's gangsters, attempts to teach the slaves American ideals of freedom and democracy. As in many Von Trier films, the idealist main character meets great frustration in a materialist world.

Grace comes across Mam's Law a system that had represented the psychological division of the Manderlay slaves. The slaves would be rationed food based on their psychology.

Group 1: Proudy Nigger
Group 2: Talkin' Nigger
Group 4: Hittin' Nigger
Group 5: Clownin' Nigger
Group 7: Pleasing Nigger (also known as a chameleon, a person of the kind who can transform herself into exactly the type beholder would like to see)
There are also groups for Weeping Niggers, Losin' Niggers, and Crazy Niggers

Danny Glover a Group 2, appears to be the most helpful slave to Grace's cause. He is eventually discovered to be the sole author of Mam's law.

Chapter Summary

Manderlay is made up of eight "straight" chapters.

Chapter 1: In which we happen upon Manderlay and meet the people there

Grace, her father, and his entourage of gangsters, stop outside the gates of the plantation Manderlay. Grace's father philosophizes "They will not admit it, but its a fact. Deep down inside there isn't a woman alive that doesn't nurture these fantasies. Whether they involve harems, or being hunted through the jungle by torch bearing natives. However much they go on and on about civilization and democracy, sexy it ain't." Grace is perturbed and insulted by this, so he offers his eternal solution to female problems, a bouquet of roses. A slave from the plantation approaches Grace and complains that they are going to whip Timothy regardless of his innocence. Grace discovers that Manderlay is a slave plantation, an institution that was legally abolished 70 years before. Her father tries to dissuade her from getting involved; after all, it's a "local matter" and she has no right to stick her nose in other people's business. Grace stops Timothy's whipping, nevertheless, an invasion that startles the plantation owner to death. Mam's dying request is that Grace burn the book under her mattress, but Grace refuses. She believes "things should be out in the open, whatever they may be." Grace prepares to leave with her father, who disapproves of what she's done. The slaves will no doubt resume employment with their former masters only now on a contract basis. He recollects a story about Grace's childhood, about how she had set her tweety bird free and soon found him dead under the windowsill. He believes the slaves will suffer a similar fate.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Manderlay ]

This page is based on the copyrighted Wikipedia article Manderlay; it is used under the GNU Free Documentation License. You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the GFDL.

Movies - Manderlay

Staging

Plot summary

Chapter Summary

Chapter 1: In which we happen upon Manderlay and meet the people there

Searches on eBay

Related searches on eBay