Cheap Dancer in the Dark (New Line Platinum Series) (DVD) (Björk) (Lars von Trier) Price

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Customer Reviews of Dancer in the Dark (New Line Platinum Series)

Lars von Trier's collaboration with dance director Vincent Paterson and music genius/goat (whatever you prefer) Bjork brings forth something no big film studio would immediately jump onboard to. As well as Trier's token drama, with added dashes of gentle comedy swiftly diminished by horrific violence, Trier's rugged camerawork in the 'reality' scenes (which rarely resort to "Blair Witch"-style blurriness) adds a documentary feel to the piece, aided by a wonderful performance from Bjork, some cast-breaking flourishes from Catherine Deneuve, Siobhan Fallon and David Morse and a showstopper from Joel Grey. The musical sequences, like many of Bjork's own promos, are beautifully filmed with enriched colour, as well as being thematically rich (see "I've Seen It All" and the unsettling "Smith & Wesson") and downright danceworthy ("In The Musicals Part 2", quietly spectacular in a way only Trier could have done it).

The film didn't find an audience anywhere thus far, Fine Line Features quickly swiping it from cinemas all to early after its release as well as FilmFour playing it for only a couple of weeks. Therefore, let's turn this into the cult classic it clearly deserves to be.

A Hugely Misinterpreted Film
In order to understand what von Trier was trying to do with this film, it's probably necessary that the title should not simply be taken literally. The "Dancer in the Dark" in question is also the light from the projector dancing on the movie screen. The narrative here seems somewhat controversial, but it's nearly disposable. The story is an excuse for Von Trier to pay tribute to "The Passion of Joan of Arc", probably the best Danish film ever made. Selma's story is ultimately a tribute to the power of cinema.

Selma loves musicals (perhaps the most cinematic of all genres), and through her perseverance in her belief that "nothing dreadful ever happens" in a musical, she comes to be rewarded. Von Trier allows us to understand her plight & sympathize with her, but also creates a plot that's clearly meant to be seen as narrative construct (as opposed to a plausible chain of events). In the film, "reality" is shown via shaky handheld digital Dogma-esque camerawork, but the "fantasy" sequences use a color palette that makes them appear even more real than the "real" scenes. The wonderful acting convinces us that these characters are real, but at the same time, they are all played by characters that are cast against type making us ever aware of the artificiality of the film. Furthermore, all of the characters voice their opinions on film musicals.

What von Trier's doing here is making us realize what Selma surely realizes. Although films are just films, they contain a very real ability to create an alternate reality filled with genuine emotion. While I personally find all this film theory exceptionally interesting, the great thing is that we can surely look at the film from a strictly melodramatic / musical perspective, and it still works quite well. Bjork's performance is absolutely incredible. It basically achieves its goal of being an equal to Falconetti's in "The Passion of Joan of Arc". The musical score is innovative, complex, and well integrated into the story. The plot's got a great deal of emotional heft to it, but never descends into mindless sentimentalism.

Dancer in the Dark is the best film by a director that has several masterpieces under his belt already. It's the best film of its year (2000), and deserved the Palm D'Or it won at Cannes. It sums up the cinematic experience better than nearly any film, and could hold its place as the best film of the new millennium for quite some time.

A beautiful, utterly devastating movie.
Björk, an accomplished singer from Iceland who is best known for her progressive music, unusual style, and quirky personality, absolutely should have won Academy Awards for the her outstanding score and sublime performance in this phenomenally beautiful, yet utterly sad motion picture. Why she didn't is beyond my capacity for reason, and is a testament to a commercialized Hollywood that rarely bats an eye at outstanding independent filmmaking.
Working beside a knockout cast (including Joel Grey, Catherine Deneuve, David Morse, and Stellan Skarsgård), Björk plays Selma, a woman who copes with the increasing difficulties of her life through music. She suffers from a degenerative blindness, which causes her to lose her job - a significant loss, since she had been saving money to pay for an operation that would prevent the same blinding disease from befalling her son. All the while, the cruel world around her works against her undying selflessness, and, in the end, she unfairly pays the ultimate price.
Not since "West Side Story" has music been more of a compliment to a movie than it is in this musical. The music, arranged and composed by Björk (and performed with original, effective choreography), is almost a being in itself, popping in at a moments notice when Selma hears the slightest rhythm of a passing train, a metal press, or even the light scratching of a pencil on paper. It is through music that Selma finds her escape from an increasingly hostile world...and us along with her.
This movie, phenomenally written and directed by Lars von Trier, raises the soul and the spirit, then brings it crashing to the ground as we witness the martyrdom of one of the most stirring and decent characters in recent memory. Yet, despite the inevitable depression you may feel at the movie's end, you will feel fortunate to have even encountered a soul such as Selma in the first place.