The story is narrated in eight chapters: 1/ In which we happen upon Manderlay and meet the people there. 2/ The freed enterprise of Manderlay. 3/ The Old Lady's Garden. 4/ In which Grace means business. 5/ Shoulder to Shoulder. 6/ Hard times at Manderlay. 7/ Harvest. 8/ In which Grace settles with Manderlay and the film ends.
The setting, like in Dogville, is an almost empty theatre set with minimalist elements of architecture, furniture and floor white drawings to mark Manderlay's different spaces and buildings. The camera wanders around the set very close to the actors, as if the viewer was filming them with his/her own video-camera; there are bird's view shots, too, in which the characters look like little pawns on a chess board. The Spartan setting helps the viewer to focus on the story and its message, not on superfluous things.
Trier is always merciless depicting Society and Human Nature, with both their flaws and virtues. Despite his bad name, he is a a true artist, and it is one of an artist' obligations -or it should be- to reflect on the issues that affect the world we live in.
Four main questions are explored and implicitdly posed in Manderlay's script:
1/ Is Democracy the best political system to have a free society?
2/ Can Democracy be preached by supporting the use of guns?
3/ What is the best solution to the race issue in America (and elsewhere)?
4/ Was Abolition, the way it happened, the best way to free the Afro-American population in the USA and give them equal rights?
Grace teaches the Afro-American slaves the rudiments of Democracy, but she does so while she's escorted and supported by a bunch of armed gangsters; therefore, from a position of power and white-race superiority - the same she believes she's fighting against. Moreover, nobody has elected her, so she shouldn't be preaching anything. If this wasn't enough, Grace tries, despite being white and not a slave, to teach the Afro-Americans how to be black and free without even asking them what they want and what their opinion is. Grace became a sort of slave in Dogville, but she did not learn her lesson there. The shock that she gets at the end of the movie masterly reflects how a just system can turn into oppressive when it is imposed on people who don't benefit from it and have no voice in its establishment.
The little moral of the story is not presented at the end, but right at the beginning, when Grace's father reminds Grace of an episode of her childhood. He tells her that she had a beautiful bird in a cage, that she freed it thinking that it was the best thing for the animal, but the bird, not being wild could not survive the winter outside; she found the bird frozen dead on her window next day. Grace, in fact, treats Manderlay's slaves with affection and love, but also with the same paternalistic ego-centered view of the world she treated her bird.
All the cast members are terrific in their respective roles. Bryce Dallas Howard is good as Grace Margaret Mulligan; Howard's sweet looks help her to convey Grace's naivety, but I found her acting a bit bland at times. I would have liked seeing Nicole Kidman back in the role, as she looks fragile and naive but has more maturity, a fact that would have given an extra push to the character; having said that, I don't think that frigid Nicky would have been convincing in the hot explicit sex scene in the movie. Also very convincing in their respective roles are Isaach De Bankolé as the proud and feisty Timothy, Danny Glover as wise Elder Wilhelm, and Mona Hammond as lovely but week Old Wilma.
The music is great. I loved the fact that the movie ended playing "Young Americans" by David Bowie as the lyrics are relevant to the story, as well as the photo-slide that accompanies it, which showcases the de-facto apartheid and lack of freedom of the Afro-American population in the USA until well-entered the 1970s, not when the Abolition was issued in the USA.
The main flaw of Manderlay is that the fact that the story can be easily twisted if interpreted literally; simple minds could say that the movie supports slavery or that blames the Afro-Americans for not freeing themselves earlier, which is completely the opposite of what Trier intends. Moreover, the movie is not engaging enough at the beginning, and a bit of more editing would have been advisable. Finally, the colours and quality of the film used are very poor, which might put off some viewers; Trier was much more careful in Dogville, and the film looked nicer on the screen.
Manderlay is a a very good film, not always engaging, not for the faint-hearted, but a valid reflection about the the flaws of the human spirit, and a wonderful metaphor about the problems that plague our contemporary Western world. I loved the ending.
I hope Trier finds the motivation, inspiration, time and money to finish this amazing trilogy.
