Dancer in the Dark (more reviews:http://www.iscriptdb.com/)
Starring: Udo Kier, Catherine Deneuve, David Morse, Jean-Marc Barr, Stellan Skarsgaard Directed by: Lars von Trier Written by: Lars von Trier Distributor: Fine Line Features Release year: 2000
Rating: (7 out of 10)
Lars von Trier's Dancer in the Dark is a brilliant failure.
The story centers on a single mom (Selma) of one son, who is a Czech immigrant living in 1960s Washington. She is going blind. She isn't living a particularly good life working in a dismal factory. In order to make it through the day she imagines herself and her co-workers in musicals and plays. Selma comes across as a mean and self-centered mother who is physically violent. But as the layers are removed we learn she is a sensitive mother making a huge sacrifice for her son. The condition that is causing her to go blind is hereditary and will soon effect her son unless a special operation is performed. She works in the factory to save money for him. She saves every dollar and every cent for him keeping it in a tin box.
She rents a guest house from Bill (David Morse), a police officer, and his wife. As the story unfolds we realize that Morse's character is in serious financial trouble and is suicidal. Selma mistakenly reveals her secret of having money stashed away to him only to have him steal it from her. When she confronts Bill, a most bizarre scene occurs. Suicidal as he was, Selma is somehow talked into shooting him repeatedly. She wants to get her money back, and in a struggle he is shot, but not fatally. As he struggles to hold onto the money she apparently is forced to repeatedly shot him and then beat him with a blunt object until he is dead.
The situation was set up with her looking like she was trying to steal the money from him. While they struggled for the money, Bill's wife ran down the street to get help. There was no way for Selma to prove it was her money as it was all cash. After killing Bill she delivers the money to the eye doctor and then is arrested. She is on trial and eventually found guilty. She is to be hanged. But it gets even worse, which I will not reveal.
This movie is relentlessly depressing. But that really makes it innovative and original. The story is a truism. Things like this have happened and will always happen. Innocent people caught in desperate situations do things they otherwise would never do.
This is perhaps the most unique musical I've ever viewed. It's poignant and brilliant, while ultimately failing.
What ruined the movie were several things. The story had serious lags between plot points. The story meandered along, especially early on. The movie was almost too subtle for its own good. The directing was also overtly obtrusive. The camera was always moving and rendered the images nauseating at times. The eyes got tired. This realistic approach von Trier was evoking on screen was overbearing. During one especially bad sequence the camera flung from side-to-side, back-and-forth, to catch a conversation at a table between Selma and Bill. It was distracting to the scene, which was a pretty important one.
Still, Dancer in the Dark is a daring and bold musical with some of the most intense drama you'll see.
-- The Spectator
In June of 1908, on the very last page of The New York Dramatic Mirror, Frank "The Spectator" Woods became this countries first "movie critic." In honor of his work, and the many others who have followed, we name this column.
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