So my friends ask me, "How was Dogville?", and I respond, "It's awesome... and insane." And the next thing they ask is, "What is the story?" And I say, "Well, a woman wanders into a tiny town, a tiny community. She's on the run, and she'll have to find out if the townspeople are going to be willing to help her." And that's all I'll say about it, because, for this film to work to its full potential, you should know as little as possible going in.

I'm conflicted about reviewing this movie, because a review should include details, and this film is one that needs to have its details unfold before your unassuming eyes. Its pacing is perfect -- yes, it's three hours long, but it goes by in a light jog, helped by the fact that it's divided distinctly into nine chapters and a prologue (complete with deadpan title cards before each section). That bit of info only hints at the uniqueness of the film's execution -- the whole story takes place on a stage with chalk lines representing the houses and the tiny streets. Inside the houses are furniture and props, but otherwise your belief of what's happening depends almost entirely on the actors. And it works -- not only do the actors totally pull you into the dramatic arcs of the tale, you begin to see that the spare stage setting works exceedingly well in illuminating the film's themes.

For this town, Dogville, is a micro-society representative of any given insular human society on the planet (in this case, it focuses on the Depression-Era poor), with a population you may not want to admit knowing all too well, with lives you can practically see through. Maybe you're already arrogant enough to believe that, but the film pushes that arrogance on you, allowing you to watch and judge the characters, wherever they are, whatever they're doing. At least one of these characters thinks he's in the position of the audience -- Thomas Edison (Paul Bettany), a writer/philosopher who shares his name with the famous inventor and thinks he has the whole town figured out. No human being is beyond his reasoning. And when he explains how he knows this to the new stranger in town, Grace (Nicole Kidman), the audience will go right along with him.

We'll play along into his hands when he says he believes in the people's capacity for selflessness and acceptance of others. We want him to be right. To prove his point, he offers the stranger he sheltered from the night before to the other 14 major members of his community. Her frailty, modesty, and, well, grace, should be able to win over the trust of these folks, despite the fact that she's some kind of fugitive, either from the mob or the law, or both. When she decides to work for them in order to pay off her debt of kindness, things seem to be pretty optimistic.

What follows is a critical thinker's delight. The town becomes an example the various ups and downs of humanity, from generosity to selfishness, from harmony in times of peace to distrust in times of discontent. The events can be read on many levels, and it's most rewarding when you're observing them and drawing your own conclusions. Eventually, though, the film takes a specific direction, and it is at this point that it would simply be heinous to reveal anything further without a warning.

Therefore, read on at your own risk -- I won't print any bald-faced explicit spoilers, but what I have to say might spoil plenty enough. I'll begin by admitting I'm very surprised about my strong positive reaction to Dogville, given that it goes against everything I hope to find in a movie. I mainly look for hope, some kind of sign that no matter how bad things get for people, simply being human means there's a way to look forward to progress and civility. But Dogville does not say this -- it's one of the strongest cases made for looking at the human race with a pessimistic eye. The end is simultaneously thrilling and disgusting. But overall I enjoyed experiencing the conflict between my own intellect (the ending is so wrong) and my primitive instincts (the ending is so right). The creation of this inner challenge was enthralling.

Personally, I found the fate of the Thomas Edison character the most compelling. The other townspeople move toward their fate in a straight line, but Tom was supposed to be the person above it all. He could see the people's motivations for what they were. But he himself ultimately could not control his own primal urges, and that's what eventually leads to his downfall. To satisfy that urge would be cathartic, but since he is denied it he commits the worst of the crimes. He continues to parallel the audience all the way to the end -- we are also "intellectually superior," since we can see the events as they happen before us on a screen and we are free to make judgments, but in the end we are are not immune to the need for catharsis. The difference here is that we get our catharsis, even as we know we do not deserve it. This set-up is brilliant.

I wanted to mention the pacing again because it's so good -- it's a major reason for why everything works so well. We are taken through all the emotional moments at the right points, so that the major events don't crowd around each other, and so they remain plausible, even when they individually feel like implausible moments. And the ending feels like the last piece of a puzzle snapped on firmly and soundly.

And it's fascinating how we are free to explore our reactions in the face of outright artifice -- no real sets, with people opening invisible doors, but with sound effects. Walking down the street, which is just a flat stage, produces the noise of shoes stepping on gravel. This movie needs to win an award for sound editing.

Dogville is a simple tale, told so well while being so revealing. There are many reasons why it shouldn't work, but because it does, it feels magical. Most magically of all, it weighs my thoughts against my feelings, making me feel guilty about them, yet somehow justifying them at the same time. We are human, and we are messed up. Yeah, this is stuff I already know, but, as depicted in Dogville, the truth never hurt so much.

(Released by Lions Gate and rated "R" for violence and sexual content.)

Review also posted at www.windowtothemovies.com.