Brilliant songs . An extremely powerful film; Bjork's performance is very moving at times .
Disadvantages:
This is definitely not for everyone; if you dislike Bjork, or shaky cameras or sad films you will HATE this !
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
Right Let's get something straight right away: if you hate bjork, you are going to hate this film, simple as that. However, if you're prepared to forgive her for "it's oh so quiet" and aren't one of the many people who can't seem to understand the uniqueness and originality of bjork's whole personality and musicianship, then you might like this film.
Well "like" is a strong word. I'm not sure if I myself "liked" or "enjoyed" this film. However I'm not saying it's bad, not at all; it just is such a tragic, heartbreaking film that I'm not sure whether much of it could be classed as enjoyable. While I doubt that many people will feel good after watching this film (either because of aforementioned prejudices against Bjork and general loathing of the film, or due to sadness at the tragic story), it certainly is an extremely powerful and different film.
In "Dancer in the Dark" the main character is a Czechoslovakian immigrant called Selma (played, obviously by Bjork) living in America in the 1950s. She works at a factory, and is struggling against an illness which will eventually cause her to go blind, and to get away from the harsh realities of her life, she dreams she is part of an all singing, all dancing musical. I'm not going to go through the tragic events which befall Selma, as in my opinion you may as well just watch the film, suffice to say this is not a heartwarming, "happy ending" film.
The contrast between Selma's reality and her whimsical daydreams is marked by the different film techniques used. In the reality sequences, there is no background music, the film is grainy and the camera shaky. It portrays a cruel and cold world, with Selma and her son jean looking very much vulnerable and lost. However during the musical dreams, which are ingeniously worked in to the film, everything is fully orchestrated; much more colour rushes into the scene, the camera quality increases and is now steady; everyone is dancing and singing. While the graininess and shakiness may be found annoying by some people, to me this emphasises how painful and cruel Selma's life is, and we are able to share her relief when we drift off into her fantasies with her. The songs which characterise Selma's dreams integrate rhythms which occur in the background noise of the scene as beats or ostinatos. In this way, we see how Selma is able to see music in things; the sounds are built up slowly and creep up on us, suddenly blooming into a song when Selma really lets go. The music is indeed very "Bjorky", being entirely composed by her. Although the songs are very much in her style, they do lean somewhat towards the more traditional songs we would expect in a musical, being all orchestrated and with clear, obvious storytelling lyrics (which are not great - but surely this is the same with all musicals; songs are more narrative and hence lyrics are less obscure and poetic). Personally, I think the songs in this film were fantastic, and the main theme in combination with the films is one of the most moving pop songs i have heard in a long time.
The film does indeed inspire strong emotions, and here is where we come to bjork's acting. She won best actress at Cannes for this film, and many are perplexed as to why. Indeed in the opening scenes of the film, where she is having a normal conversation with her son, her acting and manner is strange, not too great. I was prepared to find her performance embarrassing. However, as the film progresses she quickly seems to get more into it and is performing fine after a couple of minutes. It is perhaps not entirely fair to say that Bjork is acting in this film; she actually is most of the time being herself, acting as she would naturally, injecting much of her quirkiness into Selma's already fairly strange character. Later on in the film when some of the real tragedy has set in, Bjork really starts to excel. In this film she has obviously committed herself wholly and emotionally to the part. She has become Selma, and the later scenes contain some of the most emotional and powerful scenes I have seen in a film. Her energy really is mind blowing, and this is perhaps what impressed the judges so much at Cannes.
I think that this film is worth a view. You may hate it, but if you don't, you may find it is one of the saddest and thought provoking experiences out there (well recently anyway). This film affected me for two or three days after I saw it, and every time I listened to the soundtrack (which i went and bought the subsequent day), I was shocked by the powerful feelings of sorrow which it continued to evoke.
The film is a modern tragedy; Selma's martyrdom and strangeness are her fatal flaws which lead her to her inevitable doom, but this tragedy is accompanied by powerful, excellent music, and Bjork portrays Selma with such raw energy that In my opinion it is hard to be affected by this film.
Whether you enjoy it or not, this is definitely an interesting view. and for those that understand it, the film is deeply emotional and effective. The storyline is not complex or terribly innovative, but the power of the film is unquestionable, as is the pure tragedy of the plot.
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Story
Good
Special Effects
Good
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Not applicable
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Dancer In The Dark
A heart-rending emotionally explosive musical from acclaimed director Lars von Trier.
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