Dogville vs. Hollywood

The War Between Independent Film and Mainstream Movies

By Jake Horsley

 

 

 

 

 

Contents

 

Review

From Leeds Guide, UK

In this his third book, critic and filmmaker Jake Horsley presents a tirade against mindless blockbusters and the system that spewed them. Using Dogville's lead character, Grace (played in the film by Nicole Kidman), as symbolic of independent film, Horsley argues that film has been abused for too long by cynical Hollywood executives and that it's time to wreak revenge.

His work takes in some strong characters: Dogville director Lars von Trier is, says Horsley, the "preacher who preaches chastity outside the whorehouse", while George Lucas is like both Anakin Skywalker and Adolf Hitler in becoming "the reflection of a collective dementia". He means war.

Where so many authors discussing the merits of independent cinema could get bogged down with individuals, Horsley simply talks about what they did, what they did wrong, and then returns to the business of ranting at Hollywood and its harem of whores.

For all its fury, Dogville vs. Hollywood is in fact a very assured critical evaluation of an art form constantly threatened by the artless — it's hard to imagine a better rough guide to film than Horsley’s. Taking in everyone from DW Griffith to Ryan Hoge via Tarantino and Spielberg, he compendiously wades through the careers of the most important names in cinema, hiding a history lesson inside an occasionally angry politics lecture.

Passionate, philosophical, erudite and sometimes witty, Jake Horsley has produced a book that works on every level, educating as it entertains and never shying away from controversial views. If Hollywood could take a leaf out of this book, Horsley might lay down his arms.