Dancer in the Dark (2000)
Average Rating: 6.7/10
Reviews Counted: 115
Fresh: 78 | Rotten: 37
Dancer in Dark can be grim, dull, and difficult to watch, but even so, it has a powerful and moving performance from Bjork and is something quite new and visionary.
Average Rating: 6.5/10
Critic Reviews: 29
Fresh: 20 | Rotten: 9
Dancer in Dark can be grim, dull, and difficult to watch, but even so, it has a powerful and moving performance from Bjork and is something quite new and visionary.
liked it
Average Rating: 4.1/5
User Ratings: 56,034
My Rating
Movie Info
Reportedly the third in acclaimed director Lars von Trier's "Golden Hearts" trilogy (preceded by Breaking the Waves and The Idiots), this film is a hip reworking of the classic Hollywood Musical, starring international pop diva Bjork. Set somewhere in rural Washington state, Czech immigrant Selma (Bjork) works in a pressing plant, struggling to make ends meet for herself and her 10-year-old son, Gene (Vladica Kostic). Her best friend is coworker and fellow European Kathy (Catherine Deneuve).
Watch It Now
Cast
-
Björk
Selma -
Catherine Deneuve
Kathy -
David Morse
Bill -
Peter Stormare
Jeff -
Joel Grey
Oldrich Novy -
Vincent Paterson
Director -
Cara Seymour
Jean -
Jean-Marc Barr
Foreman -
Vladica Kostic
Gene -
Udo Kier
Doctor -
Zeljko Ivanek
D.A. -
Siobhan Fallon
Brenda
ADVERTISEMENT
All Critics (136) | Top Critics (38) | Fresh (80) | Rotten (38) | DVD (21)
At least Dancer in the Dark is bad in a complicated way.
Top CriticAims right for the heart and aces its target.
The crazy thing is that, sarcastic as Dancer is, it actually works as an anti-capital- punishment tract.
Denmark's enfant terrible Lars von Trier finally won the Camme Palme d'Or for this postmodern deconstructive musical featuring a stunning performance by Bjork.
Habitually galling director Lars von Trier's musical is a black-swan genre rarity - a 1960s-set sledgehammer to Broadway and Hollywood's insistence on sunshiny endings in golden-era musicals about Nazis, murder and suicide.
Everything about Bjork and Dancer in the Dark is enigmatic in an uncomfortable dissecting way that shows beauty in the crudest way, and crudeness in the complexity of advanced social mores.
It is not pleasing to watch, by any conceivable definition of that word.
Even without the musical numbers, von Trier has given us a compelling story with original characters.
I was devastated by it. What bothers me is this: It is the easiest thing in the world to do... move people by destroying something beautiful.
Von Trier is vicious when it comes to milking the melodrama.
Audience Reviews for Dancer in the Dark
Super Reviewer
-
- Selma: I just wanted to hold a little baby.
-
- Selma: In a musical, nothing dreadful ever happens.
Discussion Forum
There are no discussion threads for Dancer in the Dark yet.
Latest News on Dancer in the Dark
July 22, 2009:
RT Interview: Lars von Trier on AntichristIf you go down to the woods today... Well, just don't. Danish provocateur Lars von Trier's arthouse...
What's Hot On RT
Bradley Cooper's Best Movies
Fast & Furious 6 is Certified Fresh
Fast & Furious cars gallery
Blockbusters ranked!
Featured on RT
- Weekly Ketchup: Fox and Marvel Both Courting Quicksilver for Comic Blockbusters 31
- Critics Consensus: Fast & Furious 6 is Certified Fresh 62
- Red Carpet Photos with Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Gina Carano and More 0
- Video: The Hangover Part III Cast Interviews 0
- Total Recall: Bradley Cooper's Best Movies 51
- Parental Guidance: Epic and Beautiful Creatures 2
- Comic Book Movies You Can Watch Online 16
Top Headlines
-
Evan Peters Joins X-Men: Days of Future Past
0
-
Toby Jones Talks Captain America: The Winter Soldier
1
-
The Poltergeist Reboot May Actually Be a Sequel
18
-
Will Forte Promises MacGruber 2
5
-
Universal Plans Timecop Reboot
2
-
Return of the Jedi Turns 30
2
-
Vin Diesel Says Fast & Furious 7 Will Take Place in L.A.
0
Fresh Links
Featured
Star Trek Movies Ranked
HitFix offers their own take on the worst-to-best of the Enterprise crew's cinematic adventures.
Top 10 Star Trek Villains
Rolling Stone unveils the Enterprise's most irksome adversaries.
Celebrity Yearkbook Flashback
We'll bet you never realized how many stars were cheerleaders and high school athletes!
50 Most Classic Movie Moms
In celebration of Mother's Day, TimeOut offers up 50 iconic matriarchs from the big screen.
Weirdest Movie Siblings
From Twins to The Royal Tenenbaums, Moviefone explores cinema's oddest siblings.
Promos
Follow RT on Twitter!
Spice up your feed with hourly Tomatometer updates!
Foreign Titles
- Dancer in the Dark (DE)
- Dancer In The Dark (UK)
When Dancer in the Dark came out approximetely twelve years ago, it was a stunner. With innovative concept by Trier himself, groundbreaking cinematography from Robby Muller and highly authentic performance from icelandic artist Bjork, Dancer in the Dark blew itself into the new millenium and stood as one of the highpoints in Lars von Trier's career. After those twelve years since it's theatrical release it still stands as a majestic work of a art.
This story about permanently ill Czech immigrant Selma working in America is truly heartbreaking stuff to watch. It starts as a Dogma-style drama and turns from there into a one of the most strikingly original musicals ever made.
When the first musical number kicks inn it is truly something to behold. These musical numbers mixes stunning use of Dogma-methods, innovative choreography by great Vincent Paterson and more grandiotic use of 100 small DV-cameras with outstanding editing by Molly Marlene Stensgaard and Francois Gedigier. These musical numbers are truly something you have never seen before.
Every musical number feels like a wonder here and Trier, being in total control of his crew, shows his full mastery as a filmmaker.
Even the tiniest role is significant to Trier and won't go unnoticed here, And when it comes to Bjork herself in a leading role, well she is truly magical. With a performance of a liftime Bjork really carries the whole film on her shoulders.
Dancer in the Dark is a great example of Lars von Trier's gifts as a director. He is a true genius of cinema.