57 out of 67 people found the following review helpful:

A Challenging Film

A Customer from London, England, 5th March, 2006

This film is guaranteed to produce polarized reactions from viewers. Set shortly after the events of Dogville, Manderlay deposits Grace and a group of gangsters at an Alabama cotton plantation where slavery is still in force seventy years after the Civil War. Naturally, she emancipates the slaves and then forces the plantation's owners to work side by side with them. This being Lars von Trier, what results is no fairy tale. The issues that are explored are very contentious and this is far from an easy watch. However, even if you hate everything that von Trier has to say, the film will at least make you ask questions and you will be thinking about it long after it's finished. Don't leave before the end credits have run either, as they are very much part of the film. This sure ain't Wedding Crashers, but cinema thrives on diversity and I feel that it is well worth watching and discussing.

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14 out of 20 people found the following review helpful:

promise me i'll never be trapped in a lift with 'von' trier

lloyd from , 17th October, 2007

i'd love to say this was a noble attempt at dealing with serious societal issues, but instead it's just an annoyingly smug 'moral tale' from arch simplifier and stone-thrower, lars 'von' trier. does 'mandalay' raise serious issues? yes. does it deal with them well or do them (or the audience) justice? not for my money. theatrically and stylistically, if you've seen 'dogville' you really don't need to see this; morally, if you need 2-and-1/4-hour sermons on the bleedin' obvious to fuel meaningless, momentary white-european indignation, then this'll be right up your alley. self-righteous nonsense. worse, simply tedious. in any way entertaining or thought-provoking? um, no. trying to be too damn clever-clever for it's own good? absolutely.

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10 out of 12 people found the following review helpful:

Lars pushing his luck.........

hammer99 from from Chelmsford, 10th March, 2006

I thought that 'Dogville' was fantastic and 'Breaking the Waves' and 'Dancer in the Dark' are two of the best I've ever seen (thereby establishing my Von Trier credentials). This one, however, just didn't do it for me. The stage format worked magnificently with 'Dogville' mainly due to its novelty and the extraordinary performances of it's 'A' list stars: Kidman, Gazzara, Bacall, Caan and Anderson. However, Bacall doesn't last long in this sequel and Bryce Howard just doesn't have the star quality or subtlety of the great Nicole. Glover plays the same sympathetic but ultimately irritating character he always plays. The rest of the cast are mediocre at best and the story is plodding and predictable - there is a twist but it fails to get the pulse racing. There's still one more film left in the trilogy - let's hope the director gets out on location for it.

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9 out of 11 people found the following review helpful:

Pretentious? Maybe. Good? Definitely.

Richard Lewis from North East of England, 19th June, 2006

Like Dogville, the lack of set and the strange narrative style gives this a feel of a group of sixth formers trying to disguise their lack of prop-buying funds as radical theatre. But look beyond this, and Von Trier tells an enthralling story, complete with twists, which is well worth following to it's thought provoking conclusion. Easy to watch? No, and not just because it looks like it's filmed in a warehouse. It deals with heavy subject matter, pulls no punches, and left me with more questions than it answered. But then, that's what good films do.

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Mandalay 2005

A Customer from Oban.Scotland, 16th March, 2010

I did not like this film in the form of a play at all . Too deep for me ! Not very entertaining.

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film created an intimacy ...

ordinaryjo from , 11th March, 2010

I have not seen Dogville but thought I would give this a try as I have enjoyed Von Trier films so far. This film created an intimacy that you only see in the theatre by using techniques used in plays and allowed us to concentrate on the acting. The film itself felt like a moral tale of good intentions. If you like watching different cinematic techniques then you will enjoy this. It is well acted and it filled with very impressive actors and some of them not very well know (especially the Black British actors). The only flaw with this film is the arrogance of the director, someone must have told him one that he was able to portray the emotions of women. It was done poorly in this film but I can overlook that as the rest of the film really made an impact on me and I had sleepless night thinking about the issues raised in this story. Manderlay is about a young woman who against advice, decides to help rectify a wrong. An estate had been inhabited by slaves long after slavery had been abolished; the young woman frees them and stays to assist their transition to their new lives and freedom. As you would expect it all starts to go wrong. If you bored of the average Hollywood blockbuster then give this a go.

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Unwatchable

A Customer from Ayrshire, Scotland, 11th February, 2010

The title of the review says it all. Set like a stage play, but not even as interesting.

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Boring

amy0516 from , 7th January, 2010

Didnt really know what to expect when I rented this film. I found it very boring and my partner fell asleep. The story wasnt very good, hard to follow and is just like a stage show. Could have made the film alot better if they didnt do it in this way. I wouldnt recomend this film.

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