I was also really blown away by the first 45 minutes of
Dogville. I felt like I was watching a genius director at work. Then, as you say, he cut the ground out from beneath me, again and again. With
Dogville and
Breaking the Waves, I got to the point where I started to wonder why Von Trier kept allowing his characters to be brutalized again and again. When is enough? I think I've discovered that my gut-check line for when I've had enough violence is about half an hour before Lars Von Trier's.