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Dancer in the Dark (1999)
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Reviews Counted: 109
Fresh: 74
Rotten:35
Average Rating: 6.7/10
Consensus: 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.
Theatrical Release: Sep 23, 2000 Wide
Box Office: $891,547
Synopsis: The final installment in Lars von Trier's Golden Heart trilogy (which includes BREAKING THE WAVES and THE IDIOTS), DANCER IN THE DARK takes the director's original blend of heightened pseudorealism, fabricated melodrama, and the... The final installment in Lars von Trier's Golden Heart trilogy (which includes BREAKING THE WAVES and THE IDIOTS), DANCER IN THE DARK takes the director's original blend of heightened pseudorealism, fabricated melodrama, and the priciples of the Dogme 95 genre to a dangerously intense level. The story concerns Selma (Björk), a Czech immigrant living in 1964 Washington State with her 12-year-old son, Gene (Vladan Kostic). On the verge of blindness, Selma spends her days working in a factory, as well as performing other odd jobs, in order to save up enough money to pay for an operation that will cure Gene of the same disease. To pass the time, Selma fantasizes that her own life is a musical, one in which her friends join her in sweeping song-and-dance routines. After her neighbor Bill (David Morse) discovers Selma's hidden savings and steals them from her, she is forced to perform an act of salvation that will condemn her forever. As the innocent Selma, Björk is one of the most fragile and heartbreaking presences the screen has ever seen. Her unbearably moving performance is enough to keep the viewer mesmerized throughout, even amid the story gaps and inconsistencies. Featuring compassionate supporting turns by Catherine Deneuve and Peter Stormare, DANCER IN THE DARK is an unrelenting gut punch that will have sympathetic audiences quivering with uncontrollable emotion. [More]
Starring: Björk, Catherine Deneuve, Jean-Marc Barr, David Morse
Starring: Björk, Catherine Deneuve, Jean-Marc Barr, David Morse, Stellan Skarsgaard, Peter Stormare, Udo Kier, Cara Seymour
Director: Lars von Trier
Director: Lars von Trier
Screenwriter: Lars von Trier
Producer: Vibeke Windelov
Studio: Fine Line Features
Get This Movie
Release:
Mar 20, 2001
DVD Features:
- Region 1
- Snap Case
- Anamorphic Widescreen
Audio:
- Dolby Digital 5.1 - English
- DTS Surround 5.1 - English
Additional Release Material:
- Audio Commentary - 1. Lars Von Trier - Director, Wibeke Windloev - Producer, Per Kirkeby - Artist, Peter Hjorth - Technical Supervisor
- 2. Vincent Paterson - Choreographer
- Documentary - 1. 100 CAMERAS: CAPTURING LARS VON TRIER'S VISION
- 2. CREATING VINCENT PATERSON'S DANCE SEQUENCES
- Trailers - 1. Original Theatrical
- Alternate Scenes - 1. CVALDA
- 2. Alternate version of I'VE SEEN IT ALL
- 2. Second Alternate version of I'VE SEEN IT ALL
- Song Access - 1. Jump to a Song with Commentary by Bjork
Text/Photo Galleries:
- Filmographies - 1. Cast & Crew
DVD-ROM Features:
- Web Access
Reviews for Dancer in the Dark
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.
Though flawed, Dancer in the Dark is a worthy addition to the filmography of Mr. von Trier.
The songs are all written and performed flawlessly by Bjork. And not only can the pixie goddess sing and dance, she can also act.
The situations that writer-director Lars von Trier serves up here might be embarrassingly florid, but the coupling of his manipulative skills and Björk's showy intensity results in a movie with the force of an emotional bulldozer.
The turgid soap opera of a plot reveals little of the human truths [it] presumably wants to uncover.
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