Dancer In The Dark

Dancer In The Dark (2000)
Seen on DVD 8th Sept 2008

Written and Directed by:
Lars Von Trier

Why oh why had i never seen this movie before ? ? ?

This movie has EVERYTHING! you'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll sing and dance most of all, i think you'll just want to give Bjork a great big hug. This is the third film in Von Trier's series of "Golden Heart" films, in which the female lead character is naive and selfless to the very end.

STORY: 6/7
- "In a musical, nothing dreadful ever happens"
Selma (Bjork) is a Czech immigrant to the USA working in a bedpan factory. Her eyes are quickly failing her and she will soon be blind. She knows that her son will share her fate unless she can get him an operation which she saves every cent she has for. To escape from the reality of her depressing life, Selma imagines herself into musicals.

ACTING: 5.5/7
- "I just wanted to hold a little baby"
For a completely untrained actor, Bjork was FANTASTIC! She was absolutely brilliant. David Morse and Peter Stormare are also worth mention as Selma's landlord Bill and would be boyfriend Jeff, respectively. There is also a cameo by Joel Grey as on old czech movie star.

* Bjork singing *

CINE / VISUAL EFFECTS: 5/7
All of the camera work for this movie is handheld and kinda shaky, which is a totally good thing, because it manages to get the viewer right INTO the action. You don't feel so much like an observer, but you feel like you are actually a part of the conversations taking place. Of course, as we fall into the fantasy world of the musical numbers, the whole film style changes. We have moved out of the dreary real world and into a land full of colour and style.

SCORE / SOUND: 4.5/7
This is really odd, but i gave it 4.5 because there ISN'T any incidental musical. I can't think of any other films with no score. This is, of course, used to be a stark contrast with Selma's imagined musical segments.

SONGS: 6/7
- "I just did what i had to do"
It takes a while before we even hear the first song in this movie, and it was well worth waiting. The first song in the movie "Cvalda" is a nice big celebration of what a musical should be. As the movie goes on, and the fate of the characters becomes more apparent, you can definitely feel it in the music.

I'm gonna add an extra note in here - Bjork did write and perform the musical numbers. It can't be denied that Bjork has a very distinctive sound and style, so it's probably best to have some appreciation of her work to really appreciate this movie's songs.

* Selma listening for music *

OVERALL: 6/7

You simply HAVE TO see this movie!

They say it's the last song.
They don't know us, you see.
It's only the last song if we let it be

* TRAILER *



Interesting Facts -
- Bjork told Lars Von Trier that she hated him on a daily basis
- Bjork went missing during the filming
- Apparently Lars Von Trier isn't happy with the film