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Written by Steven McKay
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Thursday, 14 January 2010 14:35 |
Released in 2005, Dear Wendy is a movie which explores the American pre-occupation with guns, and is set in a fictional, small, middle-American mining town called Estherslope, in an area called Electric Park. Written by Lars Von Trier (Dogville, The Kingdom), directed by Thomas Vinterberg (It's All About Love), and filmed on a custom-built set in Denmark, Dear Wendy certainly isn't anything close to an action-packed Hollywood thrill-ride. However, the movie is methodical and gritty, and is a compelling, strange, thought-provoking and dark view into the world of gun-obsession, as seen through the eyes of a group of small-town American teenage outcasts.
While the movie follows a group of teenagers, the story focuses on one central character, Dick (played by Billy Elliot star Jamie Bell), and it is with this character that the story truly begins and ends.
After buying a gun (which he believes to be a toy) as a gift, Dick, despite being a self-proclaimed pacifist, finds himself unable to part with the weapon and instead ends up keeping it. This marks the start of his curious infatuation with guns, though it is only by chance that, after taking the gun to work with him one day, it falls from his pocket in front of one of his colleagues, Stevie; who also happens to be a gun-carrying pacifist.
Dick and Stevie start meeting in an abandoned part of the old mine to shoot their guns, and their love for their weapons soon turns into obsession, and after both men notice a marked increase in their outward confidence, they decide that it is their duty to bring the idea of "pacifists with guns" to all of the losers of Electric Park. They soon create a small, exclusive club, which they christen "The Dandies"; their most important rule being that Dandies may carry their weapons, but never brandish them.
Soon the rest of the members begin to realise the positive impact that gun-ownership has on their lives, and for a time they are happier than they have ever been. However, when an old acquaintance of Dick's is inducted into The Dandies, tensions begin to mount, and the group starts to spiral towards a disastrous end.
As you would expect from a movie of this ilk, Dear Wendy has indie cult-classic written all over it; and with very good reason. The end result is a wonderfully compelling movie which manages to draw you in so completely that you'll reach a point mid-way through the film where, when the film allows you to step back and view things through fresh eyes, it'll suddenly strike you just how bizarre things have become. It's a simple trick, but you'll wonder how on earth you missed it.
Part of what makes the film so engrossing is the fact that the cast (a mixture of unknown actors, alongside some relatively minor talent) are not only truly convincing in their roles, but also interact well with one another - it seems like there was a lot of chemistry between the actors on set. The only real heavy hitter on the cast is Bill Pullman, who plays the part of local lawman Sheriff Krugsby, though this is a fairly minor role, which doesn't really get enough screen time to steal the limelight from the younger cast members. This is a good thing though, as it gives the younger cast members a chance to focus on their roles.
Another important factor in how the movie draws you in, is in how the story is told, and much of the story is driven forward by the use of narrated sequences, voiced by main character Dick. These sequences take the form of a series of letters which are addressed to an initially unseen character, Wendy, and imply some form of romantic attachment between the two characters. These narrated segments do a great job of not only conveying the story, or keeping the viewer interested, but they are also very good at funnelling the viewers thoughts in a certain direction. The film uses this to great advantage when it wants to change direction; the viewer spends so much time seeing things from Dicks point of view, that it's not always immediately easy to tell when his perspective isn't necessarily the right one.
As well as this, the movie also gives us much to think about whilst the story is unfolding, and raises many themes throughout its duration; the nature of the characters relationships with their guns, and how they not only treat them like real people, but also treat them like lovers - referring to them as “their partners”, and how they get “married” to their weapons in secret ceremonies; how each of the characters, despite being pacifists, so easily picks up, and becomes obsessed with, their guns; the differing attitude of the different townsfolk to guns; and how something so powerful can so easily corrupt good people - after all, none of The Dandies truly comes across as hugely troubled, at least not the point of lashing out – it seems more like they know that the guns are trouble, but that they believe that they'll be able to control their power – that if they are careful enough, and their intentions good enough, that no harm can come from their obsession.
Dear Wendy then, is a fascinating examination of gun culture, small-town life, and how people, no matter where they are, just want to feel like they belong to something. It's a film that, at times, almost feels like it is glorifying guns, though we later realise that it is not glorifying them, but rather showing us why people become so infatuated with them. By the movie's conclusion, its message is all too clear; that, to quote the movie, “guns are bad news”.
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