Overall Rating
  Awesome: 68.92%
Worth A Look: 25%
Average: 1.35%
Pretty Bad: 0.68%
Total Crap: 4.05%
10 reviews, 88 user ratings
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| Dancer in the Dark |
by Erik Childress
"Love It or Hate It - It's One of the Year's Best"
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Going into Dancer in the Dark could have amounted to the equivalent of a double dare. It is the new film from Lars Von Trier, whose foray into shaky camerawork and jump cut editing could make the characters in The Blair Witch Project look like professional cinematographers. It is also a musical (of sorts), a genre that I’ve never been able to pin down a consistent tolerance for. It also stars Icelandic pop singer Bjork whose music could easily be replaced with a chalkboard and fork. Chalk all that into a 134-minute feature and I was ready to be screaming for the Physical Challenge. Yet, like with the kind of magic that only movies can bring to the soul, Dancer in the Dark turned out to be one of the most original, beautiful and moving films of the year.The aforementioned Bjork stars as Selma, a factory worker in 1963, who lives in a trailer outside the home of policeman Bill & his spendthrift wife, Linda (David Morse & Cara Seymour). She has a 12-year old son whom she loves, but avoids basking him in the delights of materialistic possessions due to more important plans she has lined up for him. Outside this little circle she has her drama class and the movies, which she attends with her good friend from the factory, Kathy (Catherine Deneuve). Selma loves the Hollywood musicals and is so happy to be performing a stage version of The Sound of Music in her class. There’s only one problem. Selma is going blind. And that’s only the beginning. Situations get so complicated for Selma that we if the hardest of musical cynics (who are into the movie) will welcome the minute that Dancer turns that corner.
Dancer in the Dark is as much a dissection of the musical as it is a celebration. Those less supportive of the musical movement have always gagged at the minute any one character breaks out into song only to be joined in with a chorus of fellow characters and bit players. But Von Trier has written a very simplistic way that makes complete sense and seems to have been ignored by every major musical I can ever remember seeing. The musical numbers are DAYDREAMS! Brilliant! This way anytime a song-and-dance begins, it always ends by bringing us back to the exact moment that it began. Observe the unique way music is first brought into the story. Selma works at her station, hearing nothing but the pumps and clanks of the machines around her. Then in a magical seamless motion, the sounds begin to form a rhythm in a “Stomp”-like manner until she picks up on it and bursts free into song with her fellow workers. Even the normally straining lyrics of Bjork’s songs become tolerable, because the emotion is so forthright whenever she goes into fantasy mode that it doesn’t matter what she’s saying. We’re just happy that she’s using her voice.
One thing is for certain and that is you won’t be seeing a criticism of Bjork’s acting ability because she is simply amazing in this film. Displaying a childlike innocence and integrity that may remind some of Forrest Gump, Bjork creates a character that is so sympathetic and so frustrating in her earnestness at times, that we just want to reach out and help her whenever we can. And her performance is aided by a bevy of great support starting with Deneuve, whose efforts to assist her friend as she lapses deeper into her condition is heartbreaking. David Morse turns his neighbor from a trusting, sharing person into an utterly pathetic portrait of deception. And the great Peter Stormare (the silent kidnapper from Fargo in a truly understated and sad performance) plays the one guy willing to offer his love and affection to Selma, but is continually rejected due to her feelings not to burden anyone else with her problems.
Von Trier’s film is not without its faults. The Dogme95 cinematography technique may be breakthrough to those who don’t enjoy steadiness and a clear picture, but actually seems more like a step back and a gimmick not worthy of a poorly-filmed documentary. There are personal camcorders out on the market now that can make home movies of a drunk’s perspective on a foggy night look crystal perfect, leaving there no need for amateur hour. Faded colors can be a rewarding and understandable stylistic choice for any cinematographer and that is the one element that works through the shaky, grainy vision. Determined to show the bleakness of the characters and their situations, the muted shades are a perfect reflection and make for a nice balance when the song-and-dance numbers burst into boisterous colors.Dancer in the Dark finds itself in that exclusive position of being one of those scattered titles released each year that divides its audience right down the middle. Like The Blair Witch Project or Eyes Wide Shut, this is a true love-it-or-hate-it movie. This is not a movie for everyone and certainly not for someone looking for some light fun on a Friday night. But don’t let expectations dictate your decision to see it. After all, I expected to hate it and ended up loving it. Von Trier’s previous film, Breaking the Waves was not an easy film itself. So, what seems like another study in European tragedy turns into something much more beautiful and all the more sadder because of our identification on some basic level with the Selma character, thanks to the powerful Oscar-worthy work of Bjork. The film joins movies like Almost Famous and High Fidelity this year, but even more than either of those, Dancer In the Dark shows how truly important entertainment can be to the individual. Movies, music, books, plays all become staples of our existence and in the worst of times can be there for us to make us laugh, make us smile, or make us sing. Love it or hate it, Dancer in the Dark is one of the best and most original films of the year.
 del.icio.us 
link directly to this review at http://efilmcritic.com/review.php?movie=4503&reviewer=198
originally posted: 10/19/00 13:05:20
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USA
06-Oct-2000 (R)
UK
N/A
Australia
26-Dec-2000 (MA)
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