Dancer in the Dark Reviews

Is thsi a joke? Hahahahhahahahaahhahahahahhahahahhahahahahahahhah
Lol, i have supose to like any of this characters. Basic narrative, nasic message. Get a life, Von trier.

few things have been able to make me cry. never thought bjork would be one of them.
from the very start you know things won't end up right. at all. by the minute 15 i wanted to stop watching it. it was extremely painfull but, also, extremely beautiful. as life itself.
everything is so believable, so real it's scary. even the "bad guys". you can't help but feel sorry for them, almost as much as for the "good guys", almost as much as for the world itself.
the ending scene perfectly sums it all up, in every possible sense.

Lars von Trier never fails to impress and distress in his films. Dogville, Antichrist, Manderlay and Dancing In The Dark, which this one is his most gripping work. Situated in a United States built in the middle of England, since the director refuses to ride a plane, but compensates by rebuilding the spirit of the country and its people with pesonal perfection, the film tells the story of the sweet and innocent Selma, suffering from a disease that will leave her blind and that by being hereditary, then began to affect his beloved son Gene. Despite being in immigrant status, work hard in a factory, living in a small trailer for the properties of a couple and have to struggle to save money for an operation for her son, who refuses to reveal, even tense moments in the film, Selma with her spirit always remains light and dreamy and outrageously good throughout the movie, a character without becoming silly or annoying, but incredibly exciting. After committing a crime is intention, Selma sees everything so that struggled to escape her control, but still insists her goal of helping her son and her good behavior not to harm anyone. After the event climax, all sequences become distressing and depressing, in placing side by side with the pain of the character and causing outrage, anger and absolute sadness in particular at the crime scene and the final sequence. The few, crucial musical moments, are very similar to the work of Björk, a somewhat surreal atmosphere, which take place in the mind of Selma, and act as a form of escapism from the harsh realities it faces. The acting is another highlight for the movie. Björk surprised with an interpretation intense and moving every second of the film, which unfortunately wasn’t blessed with a golden globe, Catherine Deneuve also as the eternal best friend who is always available to help Selma and all the various characters, such as Jeff shy, passionate, and Houston couple, all enchanted with simple interpretations, but deep, in a film equally profound, simple and fantastic.

Never in my life have I been so depressed at the end of a movie. ...even more depressing than "Happy Times" ..by about a thousand.

Fuck you Lars Von Trier.

I can't count how many time you made me depressed by watching your movies. First time I watched Dancer, I was depressed for weeks. I dont know for how long the second time, but it was a great deal of time. I gotta hide all the knives in my apartment just by thinking of the movie. I can feel the tears in my eyes just by looking at the cover.

You literally ruined my life Von Trier, hope you are proud of it.



Jeff: Can't you see, can you?
Selma: What is there to see?

Too bad I can't look at this movie too often, as it is too sad. But wonderful film all together.

''I listen to my heart.''

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

Björk: Selma Jezkova

I don't even know where to start or where to begin with Dancer in the Dark. If movies, stories or songs are meant to depict the struggle and coldness of life, yet provide a backbone and glimmer of love, hope and sacrifice, then Dancer in the Dark succeeds. This is one of the hardest films to watch and one of the most soul shredding realistic experiences of hopelessness and of pain.
This really isn't something to watch alone or if you're in the wrong mind set, this is powerful material of inconsequential proportions. Cleverly, Dancer in the Dark combines hopeful musical segments with the cold, harsh reality of its real dramatic happenings and scenes of regret and remorse.



Björk as Selma Jezkova, gives the performance of her life, in one of the most heartbreakingly unfair parts of selfless endearment, to ever be committed to celluloid. A mother whom loves her son, to the point she will do anything for him, and won't let anyone come between what little hope she has for them. Her singing segments really show off her vibrancy and energy, and as a counter part to her musical enactments we have her acting, which is unrivaled. Playing a blind mother isn't an easy feat, and no one to my knowledge has succeeded as well as Björk has in this Dancer in the Dark.
Catherine Deneuve as Kathy her friend also proves charismatic and friendly with her good friend. She has an edge of seriousness, combined with helpful and willing intentions for her companion.
David Morse as Bill Houston, proves he can be a villain once again. But in my eyes I find him not so much an evil man, but a desperate one. A selfish man, using a scapegoat as a lowly alternative to finding money to pay of debts.
Peter Stormare as Jeff,once again also proves his affection for these diverse roles he chooses. Providing a love interest for the heroine of extraordinary heights. A moving encounter sees them, showing a love for each other that will always be. A sadness, revolves around proceedings when this love strain is cruelly taken away.

''In a musical, nothing dreadful ever happens.''

Musically this film is an artful diversion and combination of real-time and surreal dream sequence singing. The way Dancer in the Dark is filmed is done in a series of gritty, home camera styled shots which convey an awesome sense of realism and cold reality.
Some parts were a little shakey for my liking, and some close ups didn't help me focus on the whole picture properly but other than these technicalities I find myself mesmerized by the sheer power of realistically portrayed characters and sets us the audience are bombarded with.
Dancer in the Dark will change your perception of life and conveys a heart crushingly real uncompromising journey of a woman's struggle against outside forces of unfairness and unjust happenings.

Overall, Dancer in the Dark is a movie which is about miraculous performances, especially in Björk's case, and I find myself wondering why she didn't garner an Oscar for this powerful display of raw kinetic, selfless power she generates in her magnificence. Not only does she act, she performs, sings and dances, thus giving a performance in body not just in words and emotion. We really believe her unrelenting struggle to save her son, we believe her dramatic,sad situation of her eye sight failing and we believe her selfish way is divine, not just human. In giving her story, a story like this into a film like this, we take the road with her in a sense, we see what others in the film don't see and the wondrous pain she has to face as a consequence of her actions.
The clever thing about Dancer in the Dark is that it makes us want to attempt to help her but we are restricted to merely watching in vain, we want something to intervene, we want to step in, we want a Saviour, and that's the grueling task we are faced with, like Selma Jezkova, we are powerless to do anything, when all these awful things transpire.
Dancer in the Dark is an evolution of tragedy, one of selfless hope and a mothers love for her child above all else. My heart still aches from the journey and story, and I guarantee yours will too.

''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.''