Cast (in credits order) complete, awaiting verification
Dancer in the Dark Movie Trailer
Dancer in the Dark (2000) - Official Trailer
Dancer in the Dark Movie Description
In Dancer in the Dark Movie Reviews for this art-house Dancer in the Dark Film were extremely black and white. People were either thrilled or bored to tears by the whole experience.
There didn't seem to be any middle ground. Now, this is my kind of Dancer in the Dark Movie. Any picture that can get an award (Cannes Dancer in the Dark Film Festival) and at the same time be criticized by the general public will always pique my interest.
In respect, it was a rich, rewarding odyssey, easier than half of "8½".
My early respect for Danish director Lars von Trier's unique, uncompromising style goes back to his compelling work in "Zentropa" and "Breaking the Waves," both bleak, surreal studies of man versus reality.
His pieces usually center around some innocent, simple-minded, self-sacrificing soul who inevitably succumbs to the cruelty of life.
I found the central role of Selma (played by the extraordinary Björk) to be the emotional counterpart of Emily Watson's touchingly childlike, near-sociopath Bess in "Breaking the Waves" — blessed and cursed with a naive, soulful purity. Selma represents one of the little quirks of God's nature.
A bespectacled, pathetically childish little ragamuffin completely out of touch, Selma has somehow survived—like the run of the litter—through luck, willpower, and the overwhelming kindness of those around her.
A poor Czech-born expatriate living in a small northwestern American industrial town during the mid-60s, this luckless creature manages to eke out a meager Airstream-like existence as a factory worker, the fact that despite the fact that he is legally blind.
Surprisingly Selma is a mother. Appears to be too ill to care for a child much less than herself, yet she has managed to provide for a 12-year-old boy while raising the child as a young girl with her rag doll.
However, the well-adjusted boy suffers from the same optic disease as his mother, while the plot revolves around his efforts to save money for his inevitable operation.
The charm of "Dancer in the Dark Movie" lies in Selma's musical world. With her sight failing, her ears become her only sense of pleasure, periodically falling into bouts of imagination whenever she catches onto a beat or rhythm (such as machine sounds, train engines, etc.).
in which she becomes the star of her work-class musical production. These compelling scenes become mere extensions of his real-life circumstances, i.e., the musical interludes at work would include the factory as a set piece and the other workers as his ensemble.
A strange mix of Fellini neo-realism and Busby Berkeley illusions, these daydreams (inspired by Vincent Paterson's inventive choreography and von Trier's deliberately childish lyrics) become his only defence.
Björk's weird musical talent and vocal style may be an acquired taste, but she's so mesmerizing here that it becomes a non-issue.
Plus, there are brief moments of levity as a hopelessly inept community theater production of "The Sound of Music" goes into rehearsal with a very awkward Selma Maria.
The subordinate cast is equally in tune. Wonderful, alluring French star Catherine Deneuve pares down her ethereal beauty as Cathy, Selma's co-worker and trusted friend.
And it's a strange, matriarchal friendship indeed, because it seems like this woman has no other purpose in life than to be the eyes and hands of this girl, who are practically looking out for her day and night.
Peter ("Fargo") Stormare shies away from his ruthless killer image with this touching portrayal of a sensitive, almost pathetic slob who only has eyes for the ugly Selma.
David Morse is gripping as a seemingly kind but frustrated policeman whose one desperate act involving neighbor Selma results in tragedy. Joel Gray has a brief, telling moment as a faded music star personified by Selma near the end of the Dancer in the Dark Film.
As in his other featured works, von Trier's gritty, hand-held camera work may at first be dizzying to the point of distraction, but its overall impact on the stark proceedings is undeniable.
Furthermore, the frantic pace with which he makes his actresses run to get the absolute truth borders on misogyny but the rewards are tenfold. As in the case of Emily Watson, Björk has never really shone as an artist.
A harrowing, refreshingly original piece of filmmaking that must be experienced by anyone who dares to be different.
Dancer in the Dark Movie is the optimum anti-musical. It juxtaposes the amateur aesthetic of the Dogme 95 movement against song numbers that are clearly color-corrected, shot with tripods, and otherwise more artificial than anything Dogme, centering around a sensational performance by Björk, as a Czechoslovakian immigrant who suffers for her altruism; a youthful innocence in the body of a tormented adult who enters the unrealistic world of Dancer in the Dark Movie musicals when she needs to flee.
The music, naturally, is composed and sung almost entirely by her - and what music it is!
Though I have not yet seen all of them, Dancer in the Dark Movie is very possibly the most genuinely good Dancer in the Dark Film from Danish provocateur Lars von Trier.
While I admire or "appreciate" Dancer in the Dark Film like Antichrist and Melancholia for how they make me squirm and despair, it is easier to connect with the story and characters of Dancer in the Dark Movie.
Its unconventional choices in terms of style also make sense - mainly in regards to what I mentioned earlier about the overall "Dogme" look versus the production of the musical numbers - as opposed to those of Nymphomaniac, made at a point where Von Trier became too full of himself and did as he pleased.
My favorite creation of Von Trier's is his cult classic mini-series Riget (or The Kingdom for you non-Scandinavians), which is strange in ways more genuine than "I wish to be artsy and different".
It is also the basis for Stephen King's decidedly less fascinating 2006 remake Kingdom Hospital, but these are all stories for another day.
Today's story is of Selma (Björk), a migrant in 1960's Washington State, who saves every penny she can of her income to pay for her son's operation, meant to rid him of the same illness that is presently turning her blind, a fact which she refuses to reveal.
She lives on the property of an unhappy policeman (David Morse), is stalked by a local simpleton (Peter Stormare), and finds her only real friend within her colleague Kathy (Catherine Deneuve).
Joel Grey also turns up as a fictionalized version of Oldrich Nový, one of Selma's idols, and what would a Von Trier Dancer in the Dark Film be without Udo Kier - the Murray to his Wes?
As her sight worsens, Selma pays more and more attention to the noises around her - the clatter-crash-thump of the machines she operates and the trains that pass - and discovers music, prompting her to envision song-and-dance sequences that, as mentioned, are shot, coordinated and colored quite differently than everything else (though still oddly framed at times, as with one number that was filmed on/around a moving train, on which several cameras were mounted and cut between in real-time, more or less).
This is consistent with the Björk of the real world; finding all sorts of wonderful little details within the mundane.
When I recommend Von Trier's early work to friends, I often warn that his style takes some getting used to, and Dancer in the Dark Movie will look unattractive to most.
Another thing that possibly detracts would be Peter Stormare's singing voice during the Oscar-nominated "I've Seen It All", which was wisely replaced by that of Thom Yorke when Björk released her Selmasongs album.
This was also the song that made Björk appear at the Oscars with that wonderful swan dress of hers, the most entertaining thing she's done since attempting to explain her TV.
All Peters aside, the music is hauntingly strange and flawlessly performed.
After I finally watched the Dancer in the Dark Film, as I was advised to do by the Sardonicast crew in preparation for their next episode, it stayed on my mind for days to come and Selmasongs dominated my Spotify queue.
Björk is often classified as avant-garde, experimental and electronic, hence it is surprising I haven't listened to the Icelandic treasure much yet.
Dancer in the Dark Movie is outstandingly well-thought-out in just about every category; its song sequences make more sense than those of most musicals, the unconventional stylistic choices make more sense than those of many Von Trier Dancer in the Dark Film, and the songs are cleverly inspired by everyday noises.
It's a devastating tale of a selfless person (hence its inclusion in the Golden Heart trilogy) and the world she retreats into until, perhaps, she learns it wasn't all hopeless.
Discussing Von Trier recently, I was told of how tiresome Dancer in the Dark Movie of misery and cruelty can be, especially when there is enough to go around in the real world.
Dancer in the Dark Movie is not cruel without purpose, arguably unlike the sulky Von Trier of today, and it does not end on an entirely pessimistic note.
Even so, it might also make the case against the escapism you may find in a conventional, magical musical with a cheerful ending (not that every musical has this).
I like miserable Dancer in the Dark Movie, as they tend to be the most profound and challenging, but I like happy Dancer in the Dark Full Movie too, for surely obvious reasons. Dancer in the Dark Movie, in a way, manages both.