Dear Wendy

Dear Wendy is a 2005 crime film directed by Thomas Vinterberg and written by Lars von Trier. It stars Jamie Bell, Bill Pullman, Michael Angarano, Mark Webber, Danso Gordon, Novella Nelson and Alison Pill. It was an international co-production between Denmark, Germany, France, and the United Kingdom, filmed on-location in Copenhagen.

Dear Wendy
Theatrical release poster
Directed byThomas Vinterberg
Produced bySisse Graum Jørgensen
Written byLars von Trier
StarringJamie Bell
Bill Pullman
Michael Angarano
Alison Pill
Music byBenjamin Wallfisch
CinematographyAnthony Dod Mantle
Edited byMikkel E.G. Nielsen
Production
company
Distributed byA-Film Distribution
Wellspring Media
Release date
Running time
105 minutes
Country
  • United Kingdom
  • Denmark
  • France
  • Germany[1]
LanguageEnglish
BudgetDKK 50,000,000 (est.)

The film had its world premiere at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival.[2] It received an approval rating of 36% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 64 reviews and an average rating of 5.1/10.[3] Vinterberg won the Silver St. George for Best Director at the 27th Moscow International Film Festival.[4]

Plot

In the small West Virginia mining town of Electric Park, a group of self-proclaimed teenage pacifists calling themselves "The Dandies" decide to begin carrying guns. The resolution starts after one of their members, Dick, buys what he thinks is a toy gun. His co-worker tells him the gun is real, and the two start shooting and studying guns in their spare time. They later recruit other outcasts, young men and one young woman who do not, or cannot, work in the mine, including one boy in leg braces and his younger brother Freddie. Dick becomes gradually more and more attached to the gun, naming it "Wendy" and writing it love letters.

The Dandies have several quirks and idiosyncratic rules. A Dandy may never brandish his weapon in public, but instead gains self-confidence simply knowing he is carrying a concealed weapon. As a badge of membership, they cultivate a 'Brideshead Stutter' (a reference to the character Anthony Blanche in Brideshead Revisited, who also adopts a deliberate stammer). They refuse to say the word 'killing' and instead refer to it as 'loving.' They live up to their name, Dandies, by dressing in colorful, outdated clothing, including vests, long jackets and hats. Though they regularly shoot targets (bull's eyes are oddly common), they spend just as much time playing gun-related games, watching instructional videos and studying diagrams. They use their own personal guns, all antiques with names and back stories, more as props than weapons. Even when they do load and shoot their weapons, they favor style over function. The Dandies spend most of their time in an abandoned mining shaft that they decorate and call the Temple.

Dick's loving childhood nanny Clarabelle introduces him to her troubled grandson Sebastian, on probation for a weapons-related crime, having to regularly check in with Dick, whom the town's sheriff deems to be a good role model. Dick allows Sebastian to break probation and asks him to join the Dandies, but only if he does everything on their terms. One day, Sebastian gives them a suspicious box full of guns, and soon breaks a club rule by firing another member's gun. Dick complains that Sebastian is "ruining it for everyone." The group's sole female member, Susan, takes a shine to Sebastian and this threatens Dick. Freddie suggesting she's attracted to men with large penises.

Sebastian tells Dick that he and his friends carry guns because they're scared, that everyone is scared. He tells them that his grandmother, is too scared of "the gangs" to even leave her home (these vague, mysterious "gangs" had already been mentioned by Dick's boss at Salomon's grocery store, who was terrified of them to the point of a nervous breakdown). Dick devises a sort of war plan for assisting Clarabelle on her yearly visit to her cousin's, believing it to be the "decent American" thing to do.

The Dandies accompany Clarabelle on her walk, but she becomes panicked when they encounter a deputy sheriff. There is a scuffle, he tries to help out and the old lady ends up shooting the deputy. The sheriff asks the Dandies to hand over Clarabelle, even telling them they can keep their guns if they do so. He tells the boys that they are what the country is made of. The Dandies notice his automatic gun, which Dick calls "treacherous," and sense that they are being set up just as several other police officers appear. The Dandies flee to the Temple to hide.

Now outlaws, the Dandies decide to take Clarabelle to her cousin's once and for all. Their decision is based more on principle than practicality, and it is clear that they are willing to martyr themselves. They treat it as a suicide mission, cutting themselves ceremonially and donning their fanciest clothes. Sebastian discovers Dick's now-finished letter to Wendy, which ends with the coded threat: "And now, it's the time of the season for loving." They head outside one by one, armed, to face the team of shotgun-toting police officers assembled by a legion of squad cars. The first to go, Huey\, tells them "We're not interested in shooting anybody, so don't make us." The Marshall arrives and tells Huey to "Drop the pathetic gun right this minute." He is promptly shot by Huey, who smiles and announces "Officer d-d-down I'm afraid!" before hobbling into gunfire. Huey discovers that he can walk fine without his crutches just as he's gunned down. Meanwhile, a bullet ricochets and hits Clarabelle in the leg as the Dandies continue attempting to escort her to her cousin's house.

Dick realizes that there is a sniper in their midst and sets on shooting the offender down. Susan is the next to shoot, using both of her guns and her carefully honed ricochet method. All the while, white lines and numbers on the screen graphically depicting the trajectories of the Dandies' shots. Susan is shot in the head. Stevie and his gun Badsteel come to her defense and he is shot in the heart. Sebastian asks Dick "What happened?" and a series of morgue photographs flash across the screen. Only Sebastian, Dick and Freddie remain. The three attempt to drag Clarabelle to safety. Freddie is the next to go. He has tied a cord around his testicles, a tactic with roots in Native American history that he championed earlier on, and grabs his crotch before getting up and firing. He is quickly shot down, rises, then is shot several more times.

Clarabelle stirs and Dick is hit as he comes to her aid, though he manages to get her all the way to her cousin's house. While he is inside, police officers are scanning the windows and lining him up in their guns' sights. Sebastian remains outside, unharmed and hidden by the door of a police car. He sees Dick's gun, the one he called Wendy, lying in the street and recalls a line of Dick's letter: "Dear Wendy, I always dreamed that if someone were to make that final exit wound in me, it should be you. My saviour." He grabs the gun and then runs inside the home of his grandmother's cousin. He goes upstairs and shoots Dick in the back, mouthing "Dick, [unknown]?" Dick resembles a pilgrim as he turns around in his buckle hat. His life, at least that which was contained by the film, flashes before his eyes. He examines the exit wound and whispers "Wendy". The police on the roof across the street shoot up the windows and, mostly likely, Sebastian.

Cast

Production

The film was shot on a custom-built studio lot in Copenhagen, but represents a small mining town in West Virginia, USA.

References
  1. "Dear Wendy". BFI.
  2. https://www.dfi.dk/english/three-danish-films-sundance-2005
  3. Aggregated reviews at Rotten Tomatoes
  4. "27th Moscow International Film Festival (2005)". MIFF. Archived from the original on 2013-04-03. Retrieved 2013-04-13.
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