Dancer in the Dark (2000)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

Director:

Lars von Trier

Writer:

Lars von Trier (written by)

Release Date:

6 October 2000 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Music

Tagline:

You don't need eyes to see.

Plot:

An east European girl goes to America with her young son, expecting it to be like a Hollywood film.

Plot Keywords:

Secret | Money | Blind | Loss Of Eyesight | Factory Worker

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 21 wins & 33 nominations

Cast

Björk	...	Selma Jezkova
Catherine Deneuve	...	Kathy
David Morse	...	Bill Houston
Peter Stormare	...	Jeff
Joel Grey	...	Oldrich Novy
Cara Seymour	...	Linda Houston
Vladica Kostic	...	Gene Jezkova
Jean-Marc Barr	...	Norman
Vincent Paterson	...	Samuel
Siobhan Fallon	...	Brenda
Zeljko Ivanek	...	District Attorney
Udo Kier	...	Dr. Porkorny
Jens Albinus	...	Morty
Reathel Bean	...	Judge
Mette Berggreen	...	Receptionist

Also Known As:

Dancer in the Dark (Denmark) (France)
Myrkradansarinn (Iceland)
Taps (Denmark) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for some violence.

Runtime:

140 min

Country:

Denmark | Germany | Netherlands | Italy | USA | UK | France | Sweden | Finland | Iceland | Norway

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

New Zealand:R13 | Iceland:14 (original rating) | Iceland:16 (video rating) | Italy:T | Argentina:16 | Australia:MA | Canada:14A | Chile:14 | Denmark:15 | Finland:K-14 | France:U | Germany:12 (bw) | Hong Kong:IIB | Netherlands:16 | Peru:14 | Philippines:PG-13 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:PG | South Korea:12 | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Arlington, Washington, USA

Company:

Zentropa Entertainments

Trivia:

Writer-director Lars von Trier's first draft screenplay was called "Taps" and featured tap dancing in every scene. Choreographer Vincent Paterson convinced von Trier that it would be far too difficult, if not impossible, to teach something as "technical" as tap dancing to Björk and the other cast members within a reasonable period of time. Von Trier rewrote the screenplay so that the songs would be more in the style of "traditional" Hollywood musicals, but retained some of the tap-dancing motif with the character of Oldrich Novy.

Goofs:

Factual errors: Even though the character of Selma is from Czechoslovakia, her accent is not Czech.

Quotes:

Jeff: [referring to Gene] Why did you have him? You knew he would have the same disease as you.
Selma: I just wanted to hold a little baby.

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in My Big Fat Independent Movie (2005)

Soundtrack:

IN THE MUSICALS, PART 2

A film so perfect it hurts to watch.

This is quite possibly the most moving film I've seen, it ensnares you within the first minute, or Bjork does with her interpretation of the sound of music, which is both hilarious and introduces one of the main themes: the magic of musicals. Not one of my favourite genres (but everyone loves The Sound Of Music, right?) but Lars Von Trier makes you re-evaluate your perception with a gentle loving pastiche of the way for no reason people and things in musicals spontaneously erupt into song, made more credible in this film by implicating a reason for it: Bjork's character is going blind so she hears music in the slightest thing and she, in her mind, sees how moves should be choreographed with the music she hears, reminiscent of her own ‘It's Oh So Quiet' music video. And the best thing about this film is the way Bjork charms you with her portrayal of the nicest person in the world, she will do anything for you if she could. She is essentially an innocent and though this is her weakness you can't help but love her all the more: a sparkling performance from a unique singer in real life.

However from this don't assume that this is a light happy film as there is a dark tragic side also, and this side is full of injustice, agony- and I mean agony-, sorrow- like you'd not believe-, and an intense emotional pull as I've ever felt in a cinema before, and it's this half that propels it from being just a great film to becoming one of the greatest. Its greatness is in telling a simple story of a woman trying to stop her own genetic sight disorder afflicting her son, by working every hour to afford the operation, working heavy machinery despite essentially being virtually blind, its greatness is its ability to inflict upon you the gift of feeling every conceivable emotion you posses and you do, you really do experience so much during this film. But I'll not say too much as my enjoyment of this film increased due to, for a change, not second guessing what would happen but to just let it be, I would say to passively watch but there's nothing passive about this film. It really moves you. It makes you feel alive.

This film should be seen alone, in the quiet when you are all by yourself, but more importantly than that it should be seen: this is more than mere movie this is art this is real this is the greatest film I have ever seen: even better than Casablanca, and Shadowlands, and The Piano.