Plot Summary
Traveling across America with her father (Willem Dafoe), Grace (Bryce Dallas Howard) comes to discover the isolated plantation of Manderlay - a place whose inhabitants do not know that slavery has been abolished. Outraged to discover that the plantation's owner, Mam (Lauren Bacall), not only employs slaves but also refuses to open their eyes to the truth, Grace fights against all odds to free the slaves of Manderlay, who include Wilhelm (Danny Glover), the old house servant and the two-faced, rebellious Timothy (Isaach De Bankole). This Cannes Golden Palm nominated drama is from the innovative Danish director and screenwriter, Lars von Trier and also features Chloe Sevigny and John Hurt.
Credits
Director
Screenwriter
Producer
Rotten Tomatoes Movie Reviews
TOMATOMETER
51%- Reviews Counted: 100
- Fresh: 51
- Rotten: 49
- Average Rating: 5.7/10
Top Critics' Reviews
Fresh: It's a movie with more surprising things to say than most about racism past and present.
Rotten: The trouble is the angrier it gets, the more infuriatingly banal it becomes.
Fresh: 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 down at his mice running through his maze.
Rotten: Manderlay comes off as little more than a droning, embittered curiosity.
Customer Reviews
Ugh! Again Von Trier goes on a myth rampage about the US!
Like all of his movies, this is just another screed against the west, capitalism and the even democracy. Von Trier has never set foot in the US, yet has made a US film series with this being the final chapter and all of them are far reaching insanity about how terrible the US is! Yes, Manderlay, so realistic right? A slave town 70 years after the civil war?! Give me a break! Only an insulated idiot who lives in a fishbowl would see that as a real reflection of how the south was or even as a metaphor for how it was. He admits he is a collectivist, says the problem with democracy is that to many people are to stupid to agree with him! (said this in a London Art Review) and yet people praise him for his insight and his work?!?! The guy has never been on the soil, has an obvious axe to grind, is an admitted hard leftist and says all his movies are political yet people lap up his insanity and call it amazing! Don't think they are Anti-American screeds? Look at the end credits again or heck, do a search on his interviews. Not only is he such an obvious wanker in his views and double standards but his films in general are like watching "I Heart Huckabee", they are just love letters to himself and the industry. Joke! Do not buy this film or waste any time you have on watching it. Anyone who thinks this is a great film is either a Prof. who needs to leave campus more or an un-employed art major! lol!
Very well done.
Dogville was a hard act to follow . . . like this first film, the artistic design of Manderlay is entrancing and the story is very interesting. If you haven't seen Dogville, watch it first. If you liked Dogville, you should definitely see this.
VON TRIER'S UNDERRATED FILM
this is one that i think once you see it again, you are going to realize how good it is. von trier is one of our best filmmakers.
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