Featured Audience Ratings

• Emil K

  
  Dancer in the Dark is one of Lars von Trier's most accomplished films so far. While it is definetly pushing itself to the limits and maybe even a bit overboard when it comes to melodrama, it still is heartbreaking and innovative experience to sit through. This is a unique piece… More
  Dancer in the Dark is one of Lars von Trier's most accomplished films so far. While it is definetly pushing itself to the limits and maybe even a bit overboard when it comes to melodrama, it still is heartbreaking and innovative experience to sit through. This is a unique piece of art and something we have never seen in a filmworld and something that we never will see again. 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.

• paul o

  
  Its a different type of musical. Von Trier finds an all star cast from Bjork to Peter Stormare and creates a dark and depressing piece of cinema. The dead silence of some scenes are bleak but its the musical scores that helps carry the film.

• Dan S

  
  A devastating, soul-crushing take on the justice system concerning a blind immigrant (Bjork), who gets by as a machine-worker by day and a theater performer by night, who is exploited by some people she is closest to in 1964 Washington. This film is a full mixed-bag, as director Lars… More
  A devastating, soul-crushing take on the justice system concerning a blind immigrant (Bjork), who gets by as a machine-worker by day and a theater performer by night, who is exploited by some people she is closest to in 1964 Washington. This film is a full mixed-bag, as director Lars von Trier occasionally gets too self-righteous in his damning of America and its inhabitants, but the film still succeeds largely to Bjork's moving, incredibly realized performance, as well as a final 20 minutes that packs a devastating, tear-filled blow to the heart. Kudos to von Trier for inserting the "musical" aspect to this film in very clever ways, which gives a much-needed boost of life and energy to a very depressing and downbeat film. Be warned though, the end will make you weep like a baby.

• Matheus C

  
  Selma (Björk) é uma jovem imigrante da Tchecoslováquia que se mudou para os Estados Unidos com o propósito de criar seu filho Gene (Vladica Kostic). Vivendo uma vida de pobreza, Selma trabalha em uma fábrica de esmaltados junto de sua melhor amiga Kathy (Catherine Deneuve) e vive em… More
  Selma (Björk) é uma jovem imigrante da Tchecoslováquia que se mudou para os Estados Unidos com o propósito de criar seu filho Gene (Vladica Kostic). Vivendo uma vida de pobreza, Selma trabalha em uma fábrica de esmaltados junto de sua melhor amiga Kathy (Catherine Deneuve) e vive em uma pequena casa alugada no quintal do policial Bill Houston (David Morse) e de sua esposa Linda (Cara Seymour). Desde pequena, Selma tem uma fascinação por musicais americanos, sendo que diversas vezes enquanto trabalha ela imagina fazer parte de um. No momento, ela se prepara para representar Maria em uma montagem de A Noviça Rebelde. Infelizmente para Selma, se torna cada vez mais difícil operar as máquinas da fábrica e ensaiar seus passos de dança, pois ela possui uma doença degenerativa hereditária que a torna graduadamente cega. Sua amiga Kathy é a única que sabe deste fato, e faz o possível para ajudá-la. Em um momento de fraqueza, seu vizinho Bill lhe confidencia que está falido e que não tem coragem de contá-lo à esposa. Selma então revela que têm economizado dinheiro durante anos para uma cirurgia que seu filho deve fazer para que não fique cego como ela. Para aqueles que não assistiram ao filme, este é o máximo que se deve ler a respeito de seu enredo. Mas, apenas por tais pontos narrativos, não é difícil prever que Dançando no Escuro se trata de um dos grandes melodramas já colocados na tela. Este motivo pode ter afastado alguns espectadores mais cínicos, mas para aqueles que souberem abraçá-lo, o filme pode se tornar uma experiência difícil de ser esquecida. Para que isto ocorra, é necessário desde o início acreditar na história e no universo que Lars von Trier apresenta diante de seu espectador. Um mundo povoado por pessoas frias e traiçoeiras, onde situações trágicas são levadas ao extremo. Tendo em mente as intenções do diretor, é possível se deixar levar mais facilmente pela história da infeliz Selma, mesmo estando ciente das desavergonhadas tentativas de manipular o espectador. Dançando no Escuro é carregado pela muito comentada atuação da cantora Björk, que devido aos seus desentendimentos com Trier e o cansaço gerado pela produção, jurou nunca mais aparecer em outro filme. Björk também escreveu as canções do filme, das quais ela interpreta todas. Apesar de não ser grande fã do estilo da cantora, não posso negar seu talento como atriz iniciante. Nas mãos de Lars von Trier, Björk acaba se tornando o maior instrumento utilizado pelo diretor para manipular a platéia, como se muitas vezes ele estivesse implorando para que esta se emocionasse. Não basta Selma ser cega, ter um filho fadado ao mesmo destino e não ter dinheiro nem para lhe comprar uma bicicleta no aniversário: ela tem que ser interpretada com uma inocência e pureza quase infantil, que às vezes nos levam a perguntar se seus problemas vão além da cegueira. Assim como a personagem Grace do superior Dogville, Selma se encontra em um mundo vil repleto de pessoas de caráter desprezível, com ela sendo a única totalmente inocente. Um dos motivos dos filmes de Lars von Trier não serem tão recebidos em terras norte-americanas é seu explícito desgosto pela terra do tio Sam. Em Dançando no Escuro podemos ver isto com clareza: Selma é uma imigrante de alma pura que vai aos EUA a procura de oportunidades, mas tudo o que encontra é pobreza e hostilidade. Seus únicos amigos e as únicas pessoas que não a traem (interpretados por Catherine Deneuve e Peter Stormare) também são estrangeiros. Enquanto isso, o policial local interpretado por David Morse é o catalisador de suas desgraças, enfatizadas pela crueldade com que as autoridades americanas a tratam. É interessante que, o único momento em que vemos uma bandeira americana no filme (que, apesar de se passar no estado de Washington, foi filmado na Suécia) é após um evento que sinaliza o início da queda de Selma. Lars von Trier foi um dos idealizadores do movimento Dogma95, e Dançando no Escuro nos possibilita ver em prática algumas das técnicas pregadas pelo diretor. Em uma decisão corajosa, Trier rodou o filme utilizando câmeras digitais manipuladas à mão, fazendo uso de uma paleta de cores arrastadas e iluminação natural. O tom melancólico é acentuado pelo discreto uso do som, a edição picotada e a oscilação da câmera. Quando Selma tem seus devaneios e vemos os números musicais como ocorrem em sua mente, o filme passa a utilizar planos geralmente estáticos onde as cores explodem na tela remetendo aos musicais em Technicolor da MGM filmados nos anos 40 e 50. Os números musicais também são inspirados nos clássicos da mesma época, com figurantes se unindo em grandes coreografias. Vale notar que Dançando no Escuro foi lançado um ano antes do grande retorno dos musicais com Moulin Rouge. O diretor parece estar ciente de que muitos dos espectadores possam não estar preparados para o formato musical - tanto que, em um momento de auto-sátira, o personagem de Peter Stomare diz não entender o fascínio de Selma por musicais, pois as pessoas simplesmente saem dançando e cantando, algo que não acontece na vida real. Trier controla o "problema" encenando todos os números musicais na mente da personagem, artifício que seria repetido em Chicago. De fato, seria difícil acreditar que os interlúdios musicais de Björk fizessem parte do mesmo mundo sombrio e tenebroso do qual sua personagem vive. Um mundo que pode ser tão difícil para o espectador vivenciar quanto para os próprios personagens, mas que ao final se mostra uma experiência difícil de ser replicada - para o bem ou para o mal.

• Jan Marc M

  
  Dancer In The Dark is a drama musical tackling oppression, injustice, and sacrifice. An engaging and compelling story that evokes sympathy and hate, Dancer In The Dark is darkly sweet and sinisterly lovely with an award-winning performance from the exquisite Björk. A gentle but sharp… More
  Dancer In The Dark is a drama musical tackling oppression, injustice, and sacrifice. An engaging and compelling story that evokes sympathy and hate, Dancer In The Dark is darkly sweet and sinisterly lovely with an award-winning performance from the exquisite Björk. A gentle but sharp strum on the heartstrings. An affirmation to the possibilities of cinema.

• Jim H

  
  A Czech immigrant who is slowly going blind is accused of stealing from and murdering her neighbor. Much of the film is shot in the style typical for a Lars von Trier movie with grainy handhelds, quick zooms, and a camera that bounces from speaking character to speaking character like… More
  A Czech immigrant who is slowly going blind is accused of stealing from and murdering her neighbor. Much of the film is shot in the style typical for a Lars von Trier movie with grainy handhelds, quick zooms, and a camera that bounces from speaking character to speaking character like a tennis match. I found much of this unsettling in a bad way. Whereas von Trier's camerawork in <i>Breaking the Waves</i> often echoed the turmoil of the characters and situations, in <i>Dancer in the Dark</i> there is a serenity to Selma that we don't see in Emily Watson's character. All of this ends during the musical sequences that are shot in the style of classic Hollywood, complete with fantastical dance numbers and Bjork vocalizing to her heart's content. This convergence of styles works by and large, but only on a thematic level. I found myself so annoyed by the style of the dramatic sequences that I was hoping for a musical number, and then when I tired of Bjork's singing, I was relieved to be returned to the grainy film that I was just released from. The plot is rather pedestrian, and everybody knows how depressing the ending is going to be by at least the forty-fifth minute. There is a degree to which this film is emotionally manipulative, but I also found myself sympathizing with Selma enough to wish for some unrealistic deus ex machnia. Additionally, Bjork, from whom I wasn't expecting much, turns in a compelling performance. Her smile is guileless and innocent, and in the few moments of happiness that the film's story allows her, she lights up the screen. She makes the final sequence heart-wrenching. Overall, fans of Bjork, slitting their own wrists, and Lars von Trier will find a lot to like about this film.

• Drew S

  
  My von Trier teacher told us all right before he screened Dancer in the Dark that he had qualms with how the film was so manipulative in attaining its end result. As a sort of pastiche of/homage to melodrama, it absolutely is, reappropriating every cliche it could possibly get its… More
  My von Trier teacher told us all right before he screened Dancer in the Dark that he had qualms with how the film was so manipulative in attaining its end result. As a sort of pastiche of/homage to melodrama, it absolutely is, reappropriating every cliche it could possibly get its hands on, churning them through an intensely bleak cinematographic ringer, and then punctuating them with bright and vivid musical numbers that only seem to make the movie bleaker still. Of course it's melodramatic. It's supposed to be. And I fear the day that something so perversely painful yet so sharply captured won't be able to make me feel something, because it will mean that I have ruined the form for myself through means of never letting it manipulate me.

• Thomas B

  
  Emotionally devisating. Full review later.

• Carlos M

  
  Björk is astonishing in a surprisingly powerful performance while both acting and singing in this unusual musical tragedy directed by von Trier. A grim, lacerating and difficult film to watch, but still incredibly thought-provoking and emotionally compelling.

• Randy T

  
  Bjork, an Icelander, plays a young Czech woman who has immigrated to the United States in hope of a better life for herself and her son. <br/><br/>A most unconventional film. One that draws from old styles yet remains avant garde. Sad and utterly mesmerizing.

• Arash X

  
  "Lars von Trier is a mechanic, not an artist. And his movies are meat grinders he feeds his characters through" I kind of agree with this statement and overall the film's approach is too simplistic, naive & shallow that it even fails to work as a simple… More
  "Lars von Trier is a mechanic, not an artist. And his movies are meat grinders he feeds his characters through" I kind of agree with this statement and overall the film's approach is too simplistic, naive & shallow that it even fails to work as a simple tear-jerker, Stormare & Morse are great as usual

• Tsubaki S

  
  All right, i guess i should write a proper review for this, and in the process maybe explain a bit why this was reason enough to avoid any movies by this director for life. Spoilers ahead, but trust me, you'll thank me later. So, Bjorks character comes to "AMERICA"… More
  All right, i guess i should write a proper review for this, and in the process maybe explain a bit why this was reason enough to avoid any movies by this director for life. Spoilers ahead, but trust me, you'll thank me later. So, Bjorks character comes to "AMERICA" and gets a shitty job in a shitty factory. She's poor and lives alone with her son, she's going blind and she also seems to have some kind of mental disorder, because she imagines people dancing like if it was some old hollywood musical. Ah yes, this is the movie telling you that she's "escaping reality" into a (dumb) fantasy world. Her love for this shitty dancing musical world causes her to make a mistake with a machine in the factory and get her stupid blind ass fired. Now she won't have enough money to pay for a future operation for his son, to prevent him going blind (and hopefully becoming an idiot just like her) but oh noes! Turns out that her evil american friends, one of them that is, steal her money. Some confussion and other very fucking stupid plot devices make her go to jail for killing the evil american that stole her money. So she has to go to a trial, while going even more blind, and still dreaming of her silly musical numbers. Some more dumb shit happens because, again, she's a poor hopeless soul living in the EVIL UNITED STATES OF FACISTMERICA where she gets accused of being a commie and what not (this is USA in the 60s i think) One of her non-evil american friends want to get her a lawyer but Bjork/Selma, being as stupid as she is, refuses any help. She gets hanged, cue to another awful song and the end. See? I told you i was going to save you time and probably money. The director of this nonesense, some douche that calls himself "Von", has this childish and one-dimensional view that the USA is the biggest source of evil this world has ever seen. That everything going on there fucks up their poor citizens, specially women, or foreigners. He's like a 18 year old collegue student who read too many Marx and Voltaire and thinks he just found out the "real true" about the world. Idiotic political agenda aside, this is a cinematic exercise in painful boredom, crap-tistic "sensibilities" and lots of naked emperor crap going on. Characters are made of cheap cardboard and the story wouldn't even get approved for an episode of Grey's Anatomy. I guess movies like this need to exist in order to......actually, i have no idea. All this said, what a waste of such a good support cast. Oh yeah, Bjork should never, ever, be in a movie for the rest of her life.

• Lorenzo v

  
  <i>"They say it's the last song. They don't know us, you see. It's only the last song if we let it be."</i> An east European girl goes to America with her young son, expecting it to be like a Hollywood film. <center><font size=+2… More
  <i>"They say it's the last song. They don't know us, you see. It's only the last song if we let it be."</i> An east European girl goes to America with her young son, expecting it to be like a Hollywood film. <center><font size=+2 face="Century Schoolbook"><b><u>REVIEW</u></b></font></center> Danish filmmaker Lars von Trier's daring, `Dogma'-tic depiction of sacrificial lamb in the form of going-blind, single mother/factory worker Czech immigrant Selma Jezkova (Iclandic pop singer Bjork in an outstanding, memorable film debut - and reputedly last time on the silver screen) circa 1950s Washington state, borderlines misogynistic sadism and placating the adage of ignorance being bliss in this tragic quasi musical. > Riveting and maddening at the same time (largely thanks to the audacity to jump to haunting musical moments out of nowhere) it is unique in its deliverance of a semi-innocent character that one feels needs some type of protection from her doom and a righteous anger as the script betrays her along the way. Fantastic use of film stock color depletion/enhancement (the latter during the musical moments) by cinematographer Robby Muller and von Trier (employing over 100 digital cameras) gives the fairy tale quality a punch of surreality. Deneuve gives another beautiful performance as Selma's best friend and co-worker who tries to keep her charge from harm. Operatic and Greek tragedy in delivery with some humor sprinkled makes for a cringe-worthy, throat constricting time by the film's heartbreaking climax and unmistakably memorable ending that will haunt you long after viewing. Tough to watch; impossible not to.

• Anthony L

  
  I didn't know this was a musical before I watched it and so when the Dogma style of filming was interrupted suddenly with a song I was both shocked and exhilarated. Lars von Trier got kicked out of his own gang in true style with this one (Well, technically he did with Breaking… More
  I didn't know this was a musical before I watched it and so when the Dogma style of filming was interrupted suddenly with a song I was both shocked and exhilarated. Lars von Trier got kicked out of his own gang in true style with this one (Well, technically he did with Breaking the Waves, but this one was the final straw). The cast is unlikely but brilliant, the songs are wonderful and the story is typically bleak and beautiful, what Von Trier does best. Another misunderstood and underrated masterpiece.

• Craig S

  
  <u><b>Directed by:</u></b> Lars Von Trier. <u><b>Starring:</u></b> Bjork, Catherine Deneuve, David Morse, Peter Stormare. <i><< "You know, when I used to work in the factory, I used to dream that I was in a… More
  <u><b>Directed by:</u></b> Lars Von Trier. <u><b>Starring:</u></b> Bjork, Catherine Deneuve, David Morse, Peter Stormare. <i><< "You know, when I used to work in the factory, I used to dream that I was in a musical...because in a musical, nothing dreadful ever happens." >></i> Full review coming soon. <p><b>97/100</b>

• Leigh R

  
  Really good.

• jd c

  
  Depressing, depressing, depressing. Downbeat fu**ing movie. This film almost brought tears to my eyes. Such a gloomy, cold and dreadful feeling throughout. Björk does an amazing job in this, giving us a heartbreaking and emotional performance. Everything in this film plays off very… More
  Depressing, depressing, depressing. Downbeat fu**ing movie. This film almost brought tears to my eyes. Such a gloomy, cold and dreadful feeling throughout. Björk does an amazing job in this, giving us a heartbreaking and emotional performance. Everything in this film plays off very realistically, from the cinematography(which was shot digital) to the flawless acting, almost playing off like Larry Clark's "Kids"(in terms of realism and camera work). Dancer in the Dark is part musical, part drama. The singing, unlike most musicals, never for one second takes away from the realism, as for it's all just a part of Selma's(played by Björk) imagination. Selma's only escape for a moment of happiness is through her music, and only for a moment of singing are we, the audience, brought to a brighter side of the story...and then BAM! When the signing stops we're brought back to reality...a cold, damp and dreary place that is not the least bit pleasant. And if you think the whole beginning of this film is bad, just wait until you see the ending. A complete and total shocker to say the least. "Selma has emigrated with her son from Central Europe to America. The year is 1964. Selma works day and night to save her son from the same disease she suffers from, a disease that inevitably will make her blind. But Selma has the energy to live because of her secret! She loves musicals. When life feels tough she can pretend that she is in the wonderful world of musicals...just for a short moment. All happiness life is not able to give her she finds there?" Although a tough and very depressing movie I still highly recommend this film. <img src="http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm89/JDHallowEEn/DancerintheDark.jpg">

• Robert C

  
  Gut wrenching, heartbreaking and truly moving. Bjork's performance is sublime and La Deneuve is just beautiful as her dowdy best friend. My kind of musical.

• Jennifer X

  
  There is not one thing I like about this monstrosity. The drunk cameraman drove me crazy.

• Keysha H

  
  It makes me cry like a child but I love this film!

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