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Bryce Dallas Howard, Isaach De Bankolé, Danny Glover, Willem Dafoe, Michael Abiteboul ... see more see more... , Lauren Bacall , Jean-Marc Barr , Geoffrey Bateman , Virgile Bramly , Ruben Brinkman , Dana Smith Croll , Jeremy Davies , Llewella Gideon , Mona Hammond , Ginny Holder , John Hurt , Emmanuel Idowu , Zeljko Ivanek , Teddy Kempner , Udo Kier , Rik Launspach , Suzette Llewellyn , Charles Maquignon , Joseph Mydell , Javone Prince , Clive Rowe , Chloë Sevigny , Nina Sosanya , Issaach De Bankole

The politics of slavery and the follies of nation-building highlight Danish director Lars von Trier's thought-provoking follow-up to the director's 2003 drama Dogville, featuring The Village's Bryce D... read more read more...allas Howard in the role originally played by Nicole Kidman, and shot in the same stage-bound style as its predecessor. Shortly after leaving Dogville, Grace (Howard) and her father (Willem Dafoe) wander into a gated Alabama community still operating under the tenets of slavery. Appalled to stumble across a brutal scene in which a white master is viciously lashing his slave (Isaach de Bankolé), Grace hastily intercedes and pleads with the abusive man to treat his workers with respect and dignity. When merciless matriarchal plantation owner Mam (Lauren Bacall) dies shortly thereafter, the remaining slaves, who have never tasted freedom and only known life under "Mam's Law," implore the sympathetic Grace to help ease their turbulent transition toward democratic rule, with disastrous results. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

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76% liked it

15,757 ratings

Critics

50% liked it

98 critics

Unrated, 2 hr. 19 min.

Directed by: Lars von Trier

Release Date: January 27, 2006

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DVD Release Date: August 8, 2006

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Stats: 662 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (662)

  • SirPant
    February 15, 2011
    SirPant
    I really didn't think he'd top Dogville but I think Lars von Trier has here with Manderlay. The sound-stage concept still feels fresh and the change of actors almost adds to the next chapter of the American trilogy (At least what was meant to be a trilogy, it's a terrible shame ... read moreanother film will now not be made). Everything about this film is first rate, I'm astonished by this film's low rating on flixster. I guess if you hold a mirror up to the world, the world doesn't always like what it sees.
  • pier007
    June 30, 2007
    pier007
    Lars Von Trier repeats his famous and tedious Dogville formula. nevertheless, an interesting and thought-provoking microcosm.
  • guttersnipe28
    December 12, 2006
    guttersnipe28
    The mid-point of Lars von Trier's 'American trilogy', Manderlay follows up Dogville in it's presentation of the hypocrisy of a fictional-but-it-most-certainly-could-be-real town in the good ol' US of A.
    Rather than another case of snide back-stabbing in such backwater towns, Man... read morederlay takes us (and Grace) to a small village in which slavery is still going ahead. Grace is quick to point out the error of everyone's ways here, even arguing her father's gangsters have more humanity, and her trust and optimism later prove to be here downfall.
    The sets are once again less than minimal, mostly rooms are defined by chalk outlinesm with occiasonal 'real pieces', such as a donkey powering a well. Though still powerful cinema, by its very nature lacks the innovation of the first, and thus the impact.
    Other flaws occur, such as Grace's recasting as Bryce Dallas Howard. Not that she gives a bad performance; she simply doesn't look like Kidman, nor does she have her screen prescence. Another issue is her sudden precociousness (at nights she lusts for a local 'black buck'), which seems implausible after her sexual torment in Dogville.
    The third act is a belter, though, ably illustrating von Trier's true colours with some pitch-perfect, arguably por-slavery humanistic drama.
    Imperfect, but powerful.
  • gator681
    February 12, 2006
    gator681
    [font=Century Gothic]"Manderlay" takes place after the events in "Dogville". Grace(Bryce Dallas Howard, a vast improvement over Nicole Kidman), her mobster father(Willem Dafoe) and their gangster retinue make their way east to Alabama where they discover a plantation, Manderlay,... read more where the slaves have not yet been freed, even though it is 1933. Freeing them is the easy part; ensuring their former masters do not take advantage of them is another matter completely. So, Grace takes half of her father's men including his legal advisor and sets to occupy Manderlay until full liberation has occurred.[/font]
    [font=Century Gothic][/font]
    [font=Century Gothic]"Manderlay" is a better movie than "Dogville" and I found the plot very plausible. The film best serves as an allegory of the Second Gulf War and the ensuing occupation. Even the artifice of the sparse stage works better this time around. Lars von Trier again makes another critique of democracy but leaves his obsession of female martyrdom to Niki Caro.[/font]
  • fb20312798
    November 9, 2009
    fb20312798
    While it lacks the raw emotional punch of "Dogville" this sequel of sorts raises a lot of fascinating ideas about race and how communities are formed. The final moments are pure genius as they are wonderfully dark and sum up the film beautifully. I hope Lars von Trier finishes th... read moree trilogy as I cannot wait to see what topic he examines next.
  • HenrikSchunk
    August 1, 2009
    HenrikSchunk
    Lars von Trier is a master filmmaker, this can hardly be argued. Everything else aside, the way he uses the set and ligthning and directs his actors in Dogville and Manderlay is haunting and a feast for every film connoisseur.

    Yet, the "stories" of his films vary so much you ... read morecannot talk about his oeuvre in total. Dogville and Manderlay differ from his Dogma movies and all of these again very much from his Swedish movies.

    Manderlay explores another episode of American history/life, yet the focus dwindles between the fate of slaves in general and (which has always been Trier's prior interest), the question of good and bad, morals, decisions and fate.

    While I very much enjoyed this movie, I think it is a questionable decision to make a movie that singular in likeliness and subjective in opinion, but yet make it all part of an triolgy called "America", which supposedly portraits aspect of American history. The movie is utterly anti-American or anti-West for that matter, anti-capitalism and anti-human in general, as there is not one "good" person in the movie.

    Yet, one cannot deny that Trier's portrayal of humanity and humans is more realistic than many other. The division between good and bad, right and wrong cannot be made in reality and not a lot of moviemakers dare to speak out that truth in their movie and make each of their characters ambigious and ultimately human. The human nature is ambigious, paradox and neither good nor bad.

    Of course, this makes the movie not easy to digest as it is both disturbing as well as shockingly truthful which might put people off that already surrendered to the simpleness of mainstream cinema.

    A brilliant movie with an extraordinary cast except for a very disappointing Bryce Dallas Howard in the lead. The Anglo-African cast is very strong and intense, so is Danny Glover.

    Highly Recommended !
  • SunilJawahir
    April 20, 2009
    SunilJawahir
    Not nearly as great as Dogville but Bryce Dallas Howard tries her best in this abbrasive depiction of racism in society.
  • KLFilmmaker
    August 1, 2007
    KLFilmmaker
    Kinda long and not as good as 'Dogville', but still worth a watch.
  • helwigs
    June 8, 2009
    helwigs
    PRobably a lot of people won't be able to get past the fact that they are all acting as if it were really a stage play, but It was really good.
  • ghettoqueen747
    May 21, 2009
    ghettoqueen747
    shot on a stage but i think the story is hilarious. people thinking or pretending to think they are still slaves when slavery has been over for years LOL

View All Manderlay Reviews

Critic Reviews

David Edelstein
May 12, 2006
David Edelstein, New York Magazine

Dig that freaky symbolism! Full Review

Terry Lawson
March 24, 2006
Terry Lawson, Detroit Free Press

If von Trier can't be bothered to get out more, he should at least consider picking up a book or just using some real imagination. Full Review

Robert Denerstein
February 24, 2006
Robert Denerstein, Denver Rocky Mountain News

Manderlay comes off as little more than a droning, embittered curiosity.

Michael Wilmington
February 17, 2006
Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune

It's a movie with more surprising things to say than most about racism past and present. Full Review

Wesley Morris
February 17, 2006
Wesley Morris, Boston Globe

The trouble is the angrier it gets, the more infuriatingly banal it becomes. Full Review

Philip Kennicott
February 16, 2006
Philip Kennicott, Washington Post

Even the basic look of the film -- it was filmed on a stage with every shot set against a bleak, dark backdrop -- underscores the filmmaker's position as master manipulator, in a laboratory, looking d... Full Review

Charles Ealy
February 16, 2006
Charles Ealy, Dallas Morning News

Some will see Manderlay as thought-provoking and representative of the way the rest of the world sees us. If that's the case, then we're really in trouble. Full Review

Roger Ebert
February 16, 2006
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

The crucial difference between Manderlay and the almost unbearable Dogville is not that his politics have changed, but that his sense of mercy for the audience has been awakened. Full Review

Bob Longino
February 16, 2006
Bob Longino, Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Von Trier may not be completely right, but he certainly isn't all wrong. Full Review

Mick LaSalle
February 10, 2006
Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle

It is without exaggeration one of the most blindingly boring films I've seen in years. Full Review

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Manderlay Trivia

  • Which actress replaced Nicole Kidman in Dogville sequel Manderlay?   Answer »
  • Nicole Kidman's character in Lars Von Trier's Dogville is played by another actress in its sequel, Manderlay. Who is she?   Answer »
  • What actress replaced Nicole Kidman's character in Dogville in Lars von Trier's second installment of his USA - Land of Opportunity trilogy, Manderlay?  Answer »
  • Which of these 3 films did Lars Von Trier direct?  Answer »
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