Dogville Page #2

But they were not repeated.

A tad disappointed, Tom sat down

on the old lady's bench to think,

to hang onto the feeling of danger

for a moment.

But it wasn't long before his thoughts

were back on his favorite subjects again,

and in the midst of the storm they metamorphosed

into articles and novels and great gatherings

that'd listen in silence to Tom after the publication

of yet another volume that scourged and purged the human soul.

And he saw men,

and among them even other writers,

throw their arms round one another as,

through his words, life had opened up for them anew.

It hadn't been easy.

But by his diligence and application

to narrative and drama his message had gotten through,

and asked about his technique he would

have to say but one word:

"illustration".

Tom could have spent another

half hour or more on the bench,

but another unusual noise roused him.

It was Moses barking.

Oh, that wasn't unusual in itself,

but it was the way he barked that was new.

His barking was not loud,

but more of a snarl,

as if the danger was quite close at hand

and not merely a passing raccoon or fox.

as if the dog were standing face to face

with a force to be taken seriously.

Hey, Lady!

I wouldn't go up there if I were you.

I know the mountain well,

I doubt if I'd get away with my life.

It's a very nasty drop.

Is there another way?

Yeah.

Where?

Back down the way you came from.

Back down to Georgetown.

Why do you need to get out of the mountain?

Did you have anything to do

with those gunshots?

Help me, help me please.

You can hide in the mine,

in there!

Hey, where's this road headed to?

No where. It's a dead end.

If you want to pass, turn around,

go back by way of Georgetown.

This place... uh..

it's called Dogville.

Dogville? Well it figures,

it's a stupid name if I ever heard one.

Hey, we're looking for somebody...

Oh, really, who might that be?

My boss wants to talk to ya.

- Young man.

- Yes, sir.

I'm looking for a girl. She may have made

her way to your town in her confusion.

I don't want any harm to come to her.

You see, she's very precious to me.

Well sir, uh..

nobody's been through Dogville recently.

Moses would have barked.

He's very suspicious of strangers.

Ah ha.. That's very wise Moses.

Please take my card and if perhaps..

uh.. you see a stranger,

give me a call.

I am in a position to offer

a considerable reward.

Yes sir. Thank you.

uh.. say was it you that fired those shots?

Well they're gone.

You want to come out now?

You want a cup of coffee

before you go mountain-climbing?

That would be nice.

[Narrator] The beautiful fugitive's name was Grace.

She hadn't chosen Dogville from a map

or sought out the township for a visit,

yet Tom felt right away that she belonged.

Shall I take the bone?

[Narrator] She could have kept

her vulnerability to herself,

but she had elected to give herself up

to him at random.

As.. yes.. a gift.

"Generous, very generous",

thought Tom.

You want to eat?

You must be hungry?

I can't.

I don't deserve that bread!

I stole that bone.

I haven't stolen anything before.

So now, now I have to punish myself.

I was raised to be arrogant,

so I had to teach myself these things.

Well, it may be best for your education...

Grace, in this town in these times...

it is very impolite not to eat

what's set before you.

I'm so sorry.

Who were the men in the car?

Why would they want to hurt you?

The man in the back of the car,

he's the boss. I saw his face.

He gave me his telephone number,

told me to call if I saw you.

I'm sure he'd offered you a big reward

if you told him where I was.

Yeah.

Where's your family?

I don't have a family.

All I had was a father...

but those gangsters took him away from me.

What if I said you could stay here?

Here?

But even if you meant it, it's impossible.

It's very small town, I have to hide.

People will ask questions.

Well, it might not matter.

Not if they all wanted to help you too.

Are you saying that everybody

in this town is like you?

They're good people.

You know, they're honest people.

They've all been in need themselves.

They might well turn you down, but...

I think it would be worth the trouble to ask.

But I got nothing to offer them in return.

No, I think you have plenty to offer Dogville.

[Narrator] To call the mood of the audience

at Tom's morale lecture in the mission house the next day,

"enthusiastic" would have been going to far,

but they had come.

And Tom had launched himself fearlessly

into his endeavor to illustrate the human problem:

To receive.

The subject was obvious, but quite

dreadfully ill-considered by this young man.

To compensate for his lack of preparation

Tom made diligent use of his technique

of lashing out somewhat haphazardly

in all directions.

His father peered around covertly

to gauge the mood,

and sensing that the assembly was not

entirely happy with this rather direct criticism,

he decided to forestall any protest.

Now I'm sure that you wish us well, Tom,

but um.. of any town, I believe this one has

a very fine sense of community.

Living side by side we all know one another.

I'm a pretty fair judge of character myself.

Honestly, Tom, you've done it again.

Made us come here to listen

to a lot of nonsense.

What do you think you are,

some kind of philosopher?

Observant, that's what I am.

Lazy, I would say.

We shovel snow together.

We shovel snow together?

Yeah.

Every household clears their own front walk.

Yeah, I gotta allow that Tom's right on that.

If roads don't get

cleared properly...

I'm sorry Tom, you're going to have to

come up with something better than that.

But the whole country would be better served

with a greater attitude of openness and accenpance.

You're suggesting that we all

wouldn't help out if someone needed help.

No, that's not the point.

That's not the point.

We care for human beings up here.

We would probably never find out.

Since nobody seems to want to admit

that there's a problem,

let me illustrate.

Now I'm not going to use something

that's already happened.

I'm going to use something

that's just about to happen.

[Narrator] And, after providing a quick summary

of the events of the previous evening

to the astonished people of Dogville,

Tom went down to the mine to retrieve

the fugitive from her hideaway.

Allow me to introduce Grace.

Grace, these are the citizens of Dogville.

- Hello.

- Hello.

Tom has told us about your predicament, Miss.

I really don't want to put any of you

in jeopardy.

Why don't you just go to the police?

They can take care of gangsters!

It's their job.

I, I don't know if that's such a good idea.

The transportation

business would uh...

Ben!

These men, they have powerful connections,

even with the police.

Do you think we should give

sanctuary to a fugitive?

A fugitive that gangsters wanna get a hold of.

That would put us in pretty pickle.

Easy, Claire...

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