manderlay

and so we see the return of Grace, whose tragic experience in Dogville has made her a woman. Still, her child-like inhibitions and naive idealism remains, as if Dogville had never left its mark.

of course, her eyes tell otherwise. the scar of the ultimate betrayal would have never dissipated that easily.

arriving at Manderlay, she discovers a gated cotton making village. imprisoned in the village, or so so she thought they were, is a group of african american slaves. the gates isolate them from the outside. a world where slavery had long been abolished: the land of the free. and so, in a savioral gesture for liberation, Grace opened up the gates of Manderlay.

Manderlay was to be a democracy. whether they wanted it or not.