Big Broadway musicals are one of the most popular forms of entertainment. Audience members get all dressed up for a night at the theater and then, as soon as the show is over, rush out to buy the soundtrack.
In real life it is rare for two people to sing and dance in the middle of the street with a chorus in the background. This approach fits well on Broadway, but not so in the new movie Dancer In The Dark.
Dancer In The Dark, by writer/director Lars von Trier, is a jammed-packed roller coaster of emotions that draws the viewer in, chews them up and spits them out in a state of turmoil. However, on the way the film also exhibits an interesting plot with amazing acting and direction.
Selma (Bjork), a Czech immigrant who is going blind from a hereditary eye disease, moves to America make enough money to pay for an eye operation for her son, Gene (Vladica Kostic), to keep the same fate from befalling him. Selma will do anything to prevent her son from future blindness.
Selma lives in a colorful, musical-esque daydream, rather than facing the reality of days spent in a factory. In her dreams Selma pretends her father is famous Czech musical-comedy star Olrich Novy (Joel Gray), that she has no money troubles and that she isn’t going blind. The film portrays these daydreams in song-and-dance scenes that come straight out of a stage musical.
In one dream Selma escapes the boredom of the factory by imagining the sounds the various machines make as music and rhythms while various workers dance around her as she sings.
Selma rents a trailer on the property of her friend Bill (David Morse) and his wife Linda (Cara Seymur). The plot takes a devastating turn when Bill’s evil side comes out in a fit of desperation over financial troubles. One night Bill hides in Selma’s house to figure out where she is hiding the money for Gene’s operation. Later, he goes back and steals the money. Kathy (Catherine Deneuve) and Jeff (Peter Stromare) play Selma’s loyal friends, but Selma refuses help from them throughout the movie. As the plot intensifies, Selma finds a way out of troubles into a dream world where she dances with the dead man she is accused of murdering.
Dancer In The Dark elicits many mixed reactions, consistent with other creations by Lars von Trier’s. The movie showcases Trier’s creepy story lines and disturbing images. There is not much to expect in the movie, but the viewer can get completely wrapped up in Bjork’s unique quirks. Bjork fits her role perfectly and performs her songs well. (If you like the music, pick up Bjork’s new EP, Selmasongs.)
The film, which won many awards at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival, offers a home-video feel thanks to its shaky shooting. It’s as if Trier just picked up a camera and went at it. The movie’s shaky camera work illustrates Trier’s involvement with the Dogma 95 movement, which emphasized acting, character development and story-telling over fancy effects and professionalism.
Selma sings at one point in the move I’ve seen it all. There is nothing more to see. One has really seen it all when they have seen Dancer In The Dark.
