The film is told in nine chapters with a prologue. It is a story of Grace, a young woman who has fled into the mountains of Colorado from some shady characters, perhaps gangsters. She comes to the town of Dogville, where she meets Tom who convinces the townspeople to give her sanctuary. In return, she begins doing jobs for each person. Eventually her past catches up with her, but by then the town that had seemed so welcoming has become quite abusive.

There is so much to like and dislike about Dogville. I expect it's one of those "love it or hate it" films. It may also be one that you love and hate simultaneously. But it is not a film that is simply watched and then you move on to the next film.

Should we love or hate that the film is done on an almost empty set? There are no buildings, next to no scenery. It is similar to Thorton Wilder's play Our Town. It would seem that this was intentional, but writer-director Lars von Trier claims he didn't know the play until he was shooting the film. The buildings and streets of the town are only chalk lines on the bare floor. It seems so artificial (the exact opposite of von Trier's Dogme 95 film protocols). However, by taking away all the props, von Trier has left us with the essence of the town and the story, which is to be found in the people.

The lack of a normal set also allows us to see what is usually hidden behind various walls. As Tom shows Grace around the town, he tells her who lives in each house and also tells her their secrets that they think are hidden from the world, but everyone knows.

There is an arrogance in thinking that we hide who and what we are from the people around us. There is another arrogance in seeing them for what they are and playing along, pitying them for their secret.

Should we love or hate that von Trier has been criticized for being anti-American? The charge first came up when he made Dancer in the Dark. How, some asked, could he make a film about America when he had never been here? His response is to make a trilogy of films (of which Dogville is the first) about "America - Land of Opportunity." He is indeed judgmental about America (as a nation, not as individuals). We may or may not be offended. We may or may not think we fit the criticism.

One of his objections to the way America lives is arrogance. The film played at Cannes in 2003 just before the war in Iraq began. For many in Europe, that war is an act of American arrogance. But it is not just the war that von Trier criticizes. It is the image we portray of ourselves. Like the people of Dogville, we think we can put up a front to the rest of the world and hide the problems that we have.

Von Trier is aware that he really doesn't know what America is like, but he does know the image that he has garnered from so much American culture that is spread through the world. It is the image of America that he makes films about. During the closing credits, he includes a good number of still photographs, many from the Depression, showing the side of America that is different from the image of power and success we strive to project.

Should we love or hate the way von Trier has made women the willing objects of abuse in so many of his films? In his last three films, the "Golden Heart trilogy" (Breaking the Waves, The Idiots, and Dancer in the Dark), women give themselves up to humiliation or even death for others. Bess in Breaking the Waves and Selma in Dancer in the Dark are very strong Christ-figures. But for many this use of women may carry an idea that it is women's place to suffer and take the abuse they are given.

As the story begins, Grace seems to be the next of these Christ-figures. (Isn't Grace a great name for one?) She is an outsider, appearing out of nowhere. When taken in by the town, she begins doing jobs for the residents. They don't think there are any jobs that need to be done, but that is part of their arrogance. Before long her work is no longer seen as a gift, but as the entitlement of the residents. The entitlement begins to become more and more abusive, even to the point of rape.

Should we love or hate the way the concept of grace is discarded? Christianity is based in the idea that God forgives through grace. As we watch this film, grace is deemed to be arrogant -- a condescension on God's part, not expecting us to be anything more than dogs following their natural ways. Worse, it makes grace out to be a failure, because when given the chance to live in the light of grace, people (in their arrogance) fail to find the new way of being.

It is this point that is most challenging in this film. The theology that underlies the story is troubling. It is troubling not because of its applicability (or not, depending on perspective) to America in particular, but because of its pointing out how we all fail to truly respond to grace. We continue, even after the gift of Christ to us, to live lives of secrecy, craving, and, of course, arrogance.

I doubt that von Trier could deny his own arrogance in making the film. Probably all filmmakers suffer from the arrogance of needing to tell the world what they think the world needs to hear. That arrogance probably also should be attributed to those of us who try to review and critique the films as well.

I should note that I'm in the camp of those who love this film, in spite of and because of its challenges. It is the first film I've seen this year that I expect will be on my top 10 list.