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Dancer in the Dark
Dancer in the Dark — It's only the last song if we let it be.
2000 8 21.5K views saved
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Dancer in the Dark

2000 8 21.5K views saved
Dancer in the Dark

Selma, a Czech immigrant on the verge of blindness, struggles to make ends meet for herself and her son, who has inherited the same genetic disorder and will suffer the same fate without an expensive operation. When life gets too difficult, Selma learns to cope through her love of musicals, escaping life's troubles – even if just for a moment – by dreaming up little numbers to the rhythmic beats of her surroundings.

Countries: DK
Languages: English
Runtime: 2hrs 20min
Status: Released
Release date: 2000-09-01
Release format: Streaming — Mar 20, 2001
Comments
Richie M
@smallclone 5 years ago

It feels weird rating a film 10 out of 10 as I've only ever done it about 20 times. I'm not a fan of musicals, and I possibly wouldn't have watched this if I knew it was a musical, but I'm fond of Bjork's music. I completely loved this movie. It blew me away. Extraordinary, moving, incredible, fantastic. Not enough superlatives to describe it.

It's well documented that Bjork had her run ins with von Trier on set, but whatever happened worked in the film sense at least, because she is utterly fantastic. Selma's romantic ambitions to make it in the USA are as delusional as the American dream itself. Perhaps that's why this movie wasn't that well received in America - because it's a thinly veiled criticism on the country and its' psyche. Selma says at one point : "In a musical, nothing dreadful ever happens", well von Trier put that to bed with his bleak but beautiful Dogme style. The way the music numbers appear from the most mundane sounds is nothing short of brilliance.

This movie made me feel like I want to feel when I watch movies, then again if they were all like this none would stand out in the crowd. Bjork is perfect, the script is perfect, the direction is perfect. It's perfect.

3
Richie M
@smallclone 5 years ago

It feels weird rating a film 10 out of 10 as I've only ever done it about 20 times. I'm not a fan of musicals, and I possibly wouldn't have watched this if I knew it was a musical, but I'm fond of Bjork's music. I completely loved this movie. It blew me away. Extraordinary, moving, incredible, fantastic. Not enough superlatives to describe it.

It's well documented that Bjork had her run ins with von Trier on set, but whatever happened worked in the film sense at least, because she is utterly fantastic. Selma's romantic ambitions to make it in the USA are as delusional as the American dream itself. Perhaps that's why this movie wasn't that well received in America - because it's a thinly veiled criticism on the country and its' psyche. Selma says at one point : "In a musical, nothing dreadful ever happens", well von Trier put that to bed with his bleak but beautiful Dogme style. The way the music numbers appear from the most mundane sounds is nothing short of brilliance.

This movie made me feel like I want to feel when I watch movies, then again if they were all like this none would stand out in the crowd. Bjork is perfect, the script is perfect, the direction is perfect. It's perfect.

3
Gonzalo
@goncaalo 10 years ago

The last scene is just...

7
TJ BATUBO
@tjbatubo 2 months ago

No.
What a beautiful way to tell a story, but no.

0
Benjamin Rice
@chinalover33 9 months ago

Now I'm not a fan of musicals, but this movie uses it as a means of escapism for the main character. It's a very unique take on the genre. Even without the musical aspect, this movie is such an emotional journey, and it's definitely not for the faint of heart. I mean I was a little bored around the beginning of the third act, but goddamn that ending pulled me right back in.

0
manicure
@manicure 1 year ago

Revisited for the first time in at least twenty years during a retrospective at my neighborhood's movie theater. I remember my extremely premature encounter with the film, as it traumatized me emotionally while at the same time introducing me to an entirely new style of filmmaking.

The manipulative melodrama might raise some eyebrows, but it serves as a perfect counterpoint to the gritty realism of the cinematography. Instead of settling for a superficial critique of the American dream in a pseudo-neorealist fashion, the film filters everything through the protagonist's love for musicals and Hollywood sentimentalism, which becomes the driving force behind the narrative. Selma's presumed integrity and unconditional love for her son remain underdeveloped, as they only serve as the backbone of the narrative. Much like Björk's music video for "It's Oh So Quiet," which seemingly inspired the film's screenplay, Selma clings to the "music" that emanates from the sounds of everyday life, utilizing them as a gateway to an imaginary world of musicals—an idyllic escape from her disease and hypocrisies that plague her reality. The film's first half fuels the flames of sentimentality with malice, as everything is aimed at delivering a powerful blow once the viewer is brought back to reality.

While I do appreciate Björk's music and found her first and last appearance as an actress surprisingly convincing, the songs she contributed to the score are more miss than hits. Nevertheless, it must be acknowledged that their dissonant quality proves immensely fitting in the second half of the film, where the contrast between the musical world and the actual events becomes painful. Personally, I would have filmed the musical segments in a more traditional and lavish manner to heighten the contrast further.

The only aspect that truly bothered me was how contrived some pivotal plot twists tend to be. For instance, [spoiler]the scene in which Selma kills the police officer ends up feeling somewhat pathetic, with him imploring her to take his life as the only way to afford the child's operation (???). A single gunshot would have sufficed to ensure Selma's death penalty, or she could have simply lost control. Not to mention the wife who leaves him there agonizing when she could have easily called the police from downstairs. It was also quite stupid that the girls at the factory not only arbitrarily recycled the money from Gene's operation to pay for the lawyer but also didn't bother adding a single cent to the amount. I understand that otherwise, Selma wouldn't have noticed, but come on.[/spoiler]

1
Polly Waffle
@polly-waffle 4 years ago

This film is both spectacular yet horrifying. The musical numbers fit into this film so well and just engross you with the powerful voice of Bjork flowing from the screen, shattering the mostly feel-good association of musicals.

0
amirul faiz
@paezfaexz 9 years ago

some song really enjoyed me.i like Jeff character.that enough.

1
moonkodi
@moonkodi 8 years ago

My second Las experience after Antichrist. The camerawork is also awful in this movie. It's the shaky = real and engaging theory. I've seen it done way better. There is something very self indulgent about this guys work. It's like he sacrifices story and and traditional methods for some daydream vision he had, and we're supposed to like it.
The characters, dialogue, plot, music - nothing is engaging. Nothing is interesting on a basic level. I laughed a few times when I shouldn't have. Like when Selma shoots the guy. The acting was hilarious. The more I viewed it as a comedy, the more apparent was the stupidity of the movie was. Bjork's character became a comedy sketch show character.

It it's very core I like the ideas. I like the the potential exploration of the character. It's just so lost in itself and inept, it's unbelievable.

One of those movies for real movie lovers. In other words, read into it what you want and fool yourself. The perfect DVD to the dvd collection to impress pretentious people.

2
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