Dancer in the Dark(2000) [Trailer]
Director: Lars Von Trier [IMDB]
I have been a fan of Björk's music since the early days of the Sugarcubes. She is very different from your typical singer. If you present me with two singers, one having a pitch perfect classically trained voice and the other an atypical voice, I generally tend to prefer the latter. Even though Björk falls into that category she has a very powerful voice and an eccentric style I dig. While I am not a fan of musicals I felt this might be worth watching because it comes very highly rated and has Björk as the driving force behind the musical component.
Synopsis: Björk plays Selma Jezkova, an eastern European immigrant living the United States in 1964. Selma has a genetic defect that is causing her to go blind. She has come to the United States because her son has the same condition and she is saving her earnings to afford a surgery to correct the defect in her son.
Lars Von Trier has a significant following based on his filmography and most of those individuals have raved about this film. My experience with Dancer In the Dark (Dancer) was vastly different. Dancer was incredibly boring and highly quirky which is not surprising given Björk's creative input. The tone of the movie is very somber and foreboding. Yet as soon as the Trier establishes the mood for a specific scene we cut to an all out upbeat quirky musical number which ran counter to theme of the film. I also found that many of the scenes lacked believability especially those related to how she gets into legal trouble. Ultimately Selma is placed on trial but the circumstances that created her predicament were less that authentic.
As a musical, Dancer might have worked if the numbers were more inline with the direction of the film. On the positive side, the acting was genuine and the actors were believable in their roles. I also found the setting accurately reflected my impression of the time.
While I enjoy Björk's music, I wasn't crazy about Dancer. If you enjoy musicals then this movie may appeal to you, otherwise I suggest taking a pass on Dancer.
Lars Von Trier has a significant following based on his filmography and most of those individuals have raved about this film. My experience with Dancer In the Dark (Dancer) was vastly different. Dancer was incredibly boring and highly quirky which is not surprising given Björk's creative input. The tone of the movie is very somber and foreboding. Yet as soon as the Trier establishes the mood for a specific scene we cut to an all out upbeat quirky musical number which ran counter to theme of the film. I also found that many of the scenes lacked believability especially those related to how she gets into legal trouble. Ultimately Selma is placed on trial but the circumstances that created her predicament were less that authentic.
As a musical, Dancer might have worked if the numbers were more inline with the direction of the film. On the positive side, the acting was genuine and the actors were believable in their roles. I also found the setting accurately reflected my impression of the time.
While I enjoy Björk's music, I wasn't crazy about Dancer. If you enjoy musicals then this movie may appeal to you, otherwise I suggest taking a pass on Dancer.
