Dancer in the Dark

Dancer in the Dark

Theatrical poster
Directed by Lars von Trier
Produced by Vibeke Windeløv
Written by Lars von Trier
Starring Björk
Catherine Deneuve
Vladica Kostic
David Morse
Cara Seymour
Peter Stormare
Music by Björk
Cinematography Robby Müller
Editing by François Gédigier
Molly Marlene Stensgård
Distributed by Fine Line Features (USA)
Release date(s) May 17, 2000 (2000-05-17) (Cannes)
02000-12-08 December 8, 2000
Running time 140 minutes
Country Denmark
Language English
Budget SEK 120 million (estimated)
$17 million
Gross revenue $40,031,879[1]
Preceded by The Idiots

Dancer in the Dark is a 2000 Danish musical drama film directed by Lars von Trier and starring Icelandic singer Björk, Catherine Deneuve, David Morse, Vladica Kostic, Cara Seymour and Peter Stormare. The soundtrack for the film, released as the album Selmasongs, was written mainly by Björk, but a number of songs featured contributions from Mark Bell and the lyrics were by Lars Von Trier and Sjón. Three songs from Rodgers and Hammerstein's The Sound of Music were also used in the film.

Dancer in the Dark is the third film in Lars von Trier's 'Golden Heart Trilogy'; the previous two films were Breaking the Waves (1996) and The Idiots (1998). The film was an international co-production between companies based in several countries: Denmark, Germany, Netherlands, United States, United Kingdom, France, Sweden, Finland, Iceland and Norway. It was shot with a hand held camera, and was somewhat inspired by a Dogme 95 look.

Dancer in the Dark premiered at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival to standing ovations and controversy and was awarded the Palme d'Or, along with the Best Actress award for Björk. The song "I've Seen It All", with Thom Yorke, was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Song.

Contents

Plot

The film is set in the U.S. state of Washington in 1964 and focuses on Selma Ježková (Björk), a Czech immigrant who has moved to the United States with her son, Gene Ježek (Kostic). They live a life of poverty as Selma works at a factory with her good friend Kathy, whom she nicknames Cvalda (Deneuve). She rents a trailer home on the property of town policeman Bill Houston (Morse) and his wife Linda Houston (Seymour). She is also pursued by the shy but persistent Jeff (Stormare) who also works at the factory.

What no one in Selma's life knows is that she has a hereditary degenerative disease which is gradually causing her to go blind. She has been saving up every penny that she makes (in a candy tin in her kitchen) to pay for an operation which will prevent her young son from suffering the same fate.

To escape the misery of her daily life Selma accompanies Cvalda to the local cinema where together they watch fabulous Hollywood musicals (or more accurately, Selma listens as Cvalda describes them to her, to the aggravation of the other theater patrons, or acts out the dance steps upon Selma's hand using her fingers). In her day-to-day life, when things are too boring or upsetting, Selma slips into daydreams or perhaps a trance-like state where she imagines the ordinary circumstances and individuals around her have erupted into elaborate musical theater numbers. These songs, as do many of Björk's songs, use some sort of real life noise (from factory machines buzzing to the sound of a flag rapping against a flag pole in the wind) as an underlying rhythm.

Unfortunately, Selma slips into one such trance while working at the factory. Soon Jeff and Cvalda begin to realize that Selma can barely see at all. Additionally, Bill reveals to Selma that his materialistic wife Linda spends more than his salary, there is no money left from his inheritance, and he is behind in payments and the bank is going to take the house. He asks Selma for a loan, but she declines. He regrets telling Selma his secret. To comfort Bill, Selma reveals her secret blindness, hoping that together they can keep each other's secret. Bill then hides in the corner of Selma's home, knowing she can't see him, and watches as she puts some money in her kitchen tin.

The next day after having broken her machine the night before through careless error, Selma is fired from her job. When she comes home to put her final wages away she finds the tin is empty; she goes next door to report the theft to Bill and Linda only to hear Linda discussing how Bill has brought home their safe deposit box to count their savings. Linda additionally reveals that Bill has "confessed" his affair with Selma, and that Selma must move out immediately. Knowing that Bill was broke and that the money he is counting must be hers, she confronts him and attempts to take the money back. He draws a gun on her, and in a struggle he is wounded.

Linda discovers the two of them and, assuming that Selma is attempting to steal the money, runs off to tell the police at Bill's command. Bill then begs Selma to take his life, telling her that this will be the only way she will ever reclaim the money that he stole from her. Selma shoots at him several times, but due to her blindness manages to only maim Bill further. In the end, she performs a coup de grâce with the safe deposit box. In one of the scenes, Selma slips into a trance and imagines that Bill's corpse stands up and slow dances with her, urging her to run to freedom. She does, and takes the money to the Institute for the Blind to pay for her son's operation before the police can take it from her.

Selma is caught and eventually put on trial. It is here that she is pegged as a Communist sympathizer and murderess. Although she tells as much truth about the situation as she can, she refuses to reveal Bill's secret, saying that she had promised not to. Additionally, when her claim that the reason she didn't have any money was because she had been sending it to her father in Czechoslovakia is proven false, she is convicted and given the death penalty.

Cvalda and Jeff eventually put the pieces of the puzzle together and get back Selma's money, using it instead to pay for a trial lawyer who can free her. Selma becomes furious and refuses the lawyer, opting to face the death penalty rather than letting her son go blind. Selma is deeply distraught as she awaits her execution while crying on her bed. While a female prison guard tries to comfort her, the other state officials show no feelings and are eager to have her executed. On her way to the gallows, Selma goes to hug the other men on death row while singing to them. As Selma arrives to the execution chamber, Cvalda rushes to inform her that the operation was successful and that Gene will see. Relieved, Selma sings the final song of the movie on the gallows with no musical accompaniment, although the executioners hang her before she finishes. A curtain is then drawn in front of her body.

Cast

Style

Much of the film has a similar look to Lars von Trier's earlier Dogme 95-influenced films: it is filmed on low-end, hand-held digital cameras to create a documentary-style appearance. It is not a true Dogme 95 film, however, because the Dogme rules stipulate that violence, non-diegetic music, and period pieces are not permitted.

Lars von Trier differentiates the musical sequences from the rest of the film by using static cameras and by brightening the colours.

The Great Northern TMY locomotive

Production

The film's title suggests the Fred Astaire/Cyd Charisse duet "Dancing In The Dark" from the 1953 film The Band Wagon, which ties in with the film's musical theatre theme.

Actress Björk, who is known primarily as a contemporary composer, had rarely acted before, and has described the process of making this film as so emotionally taxing that she would not appear in any film ever again[2][3] (although in 2005, she appeared in Matthew Barney's Drawing Restraint 9). She had disagreements with the director over the content of the film, wanting the ending to be more uplifting. She later called Trier a sexist.[4] Deneuve and others have described her performance as feeling rather than acting. Björk has said that it is a misunderstanding that she was put off acting by this film; rather, she never wanted to act but made an exception for Lars von Trier.[5]

The musical sequences were filmed simultaneously with over 100 digital cameras so that multiple angles of the performance could be captured and cut together later, thus shortening the filming schedule.

Björk lies down on a stack of birch logs during the "Scatterheart" sequence. In Icelandic, Faroese and Swedish, "Björk" means "birch".

A Danish TMY class locomotive (owned by Swedish train operator TÅGAB, a shortline) was painted in the American Great Northern scheme for the movie, and not repainted afterward.[6] A T43 class locomotive was repainted too, though never used in the movie.

Critical responses

Reaction to Dancer in the Dark was mixed. For example, on The Movie Show, Margaret Pomeranz gave it 5 stars while David Stratton gave it 0—the only time this has happened. Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian said it was "one of the worst films, one of the worst artworks and perhaps one of the worst things in the history of the world."[7] The response is reflected in the film's official website, which posts both positive and negative reviews on its main page.[8] The diverse reviews result in an overall "Fresh" rating; 68 % grade on the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes.[1]

The film was praised for its stylistic innovations. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times stated: "It smashes down the walls of habit that surround so many movies. It returns to the wellsprings. It is a bold, reckless gesture."[9] and Edward Guthmann from the San Francisco Chronicle wrote "It's great to see a movie so courageous and affecting, so committed to its own differentness."[10]

However, criticism was directed at its storyline: Jonathan Foreman of the New York Post described the film as "meretricious fakery" and called it "so unrelenting in its manipulative sentimentality that, if it had been made by an American and shot in a more conventional manner, it would be seen as a bad joke."[11]

Awards

Dancer in the Dark premiered at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival and was awarded the Palme d'Or, along with the Best Actress award for Björk.[12] The song "I've Seen It All" was nominated for an Oscar for best song, at the performance of which Björk wore her famous swan dress.

Won

Nominated

Music

References in other media

The Finnish band The Rasmus included a song called "Dancer in the Dark" in the special edition of their 2005 album Hide from the Sun. The song is about the movie.

Drummer Jeff "Tain" Watts arranged and recorded a version of "107 Steps" on his live album "Detained- Live at the Blue Note".

References

  1. ↑ http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=dancerinthedark.htm
  2. ↑ "Bjork launches celluloid comeback". BBC News. 2005-11-02. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/film/4209500.stm. Retrieved 2006-12-22. "Bjork vowed never to act again after making Dancer in the Dark in 2000, despite winning a best actress prize at the Cannes Film Festival." 
  3. ↑ BeatBoxBetty (2005-09-02). "celebetty: bjork". BeatBoxBetty. BeatBoxBetty.com. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/film/4209500.stm. Retrieved 2006-12-22. "Right now, I feel very strong about focusing on music" 
  4. ↑ Bryan Appleyard (2009-07-12). "Should Lars von Trier's Antichrist be banned?". London: The Times. http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/film/article6675618.ece. Retrieved 2009-07-12. 
  5. ↑ http://www.bjork.com/facts/about/right.php?id=1574
  6. ↑ RailPictures.Net Photo » TAGAB TMY
  7. ↑ Bradshaw, Peter (2009-05-22). "Dancer In The Dark". The Guardian (guardian.co.uk). http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/video/2009/may/22/cannes-film-festival. Retrieved 2009-05-22. "Xan Brooks leads a critics' roundtable on the highs and lows, the sublime to the ridiculous at the 2009 Cannes film festival, before sailing into the sunset. See video at 8:20." 
  8. ↑ "Dancer in the Dark official website". http://www.dancerinthedarkmovie.com. Retrieved 2007-05-27. 
  9. ↑ Ebert, Roger (2000-10-20). "Dancer In The Dark". Chicago Sun Times (rogerebert.com). http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20001020/REVIEWS/10200302/1023. Retrieved 2006-12-22. "Some reasonable people will admire Lars von Trier's "Dancer in the Dark," and others will despise it. An excellent case can be made for both positions." 
  10. ↑ Guthmann, Edward (2000-10-26). "`Dancer' Dares to Be Different". San Francisco Chronicle (San Francisco Chronicle). http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2000/10/06/DD45326.DTL. Retrieved 2006-12-22. "Singer Bjork amazing in von Trier's tragedy" 
  11. ↑ Foreman, Jonathan (2000-09-22). "Dreck Dressed As Art". New York Post (NYP Holdings, Inc.): p. 47. http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/nypost/access/68876866.html?did=68876866&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&dids=68876866:68876866:&date=Sep+22%2C+2000&author=Jonathan+Foreman&pub=New+York+Post&desc=DRECK+DRESSED+AS+ART+-+DESPITE+2+GOOD+PERFORMANCES%2C+%27DANCER%27+IS+JUST+FAKERY+WITH+AN+ANTI-AMERICAN+DRUM+TO+BEAT. Retrieved 2006-12-22. "Despite 2 Good Performances, 'Dancer' Is Just Fakery With An Anti-american Drum To Beat" 
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 "Festival de Cannes: Dancer in the Dark". festival-cannes.com. http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/5140/year/2000.html. Retrieved 2009-10-11. 

External links

Awards and achievements
Preceded by
All About My Mother		 European Film Award for Best European Film
2000		 Succeeded by
Amélie
Films by Lars von Trier
1980s–1990s

The Element of Crime · Epidemic · Europa · Breaking the Waves · The Idiots
2000s–present

Dancer in the Dark · Dogville · Manderlay · The Boss of It All · Antichrist · Melancholia
Co-directed

The Five Obstructions (with Jørgen Leth)
Television

Medea · The Kingdom
Shorts

The Orchid Gardener · Menthe – La bienheureuse · Nocturne · The Last Detail · Images of a Relief · Segment "Occupations" in To Each His Own Cinema · Dimension
Palme d'Or winning films – 2000–present

Dancer in the Dark (2000) · The Son's Room (2001) · The Pianist (2002) · Elephant (2003) · Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004) · The Child (2005) · The Wind That Shakes the Barley (2006) · 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (2007) · The Class (2008) · The White Ribbon (2009) · Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (2010)

Complete List · (1939–1959) · (1960–1979) · (1980–1999) · (2000–present)
Cinema of Denmark

Actors · Directors · Cinematographers · Producers · Screenwriters · Score composers  · Studios · Films A–Z
Films by year: pre-1910 · 1910s · 1920s · 1930s · 1940s · 1950s · 1960s · 1970s · 1980s · 1990s · 2000s
European Film Award for Best Film

Krótki film o zabijaniu (A Short Film about Killing) (1988) · Topio stin omichli (Landscape in the Mist) (1989) · Porte aperte (Open Doors) (1990) · Riff-Raff (1991) · Il ladro di bambini (The Stolen Children) (1992) · Urga (Urga – The Territory of Love) (1993) · Lamerica (1994) · Land and Freedom (1995) · Breaking the Waves (1996) · The Full Monty (1997) · La vita è bella (Life Is Beautiful) (1998) · Todo sobre mi madre (All About My Mother) (1999) · Dancer in the Dark (2000) · Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain (Amélie) (2001) · Hable con ella (Talk to Her) (2002) · Good Bye, Lenin! (2003) · Gegen die Wand (Head-On) (2004) · Caché (Hidden) (2005) · Das Leben der Anderen (The Lives Of Others) (2006) · 4 luni, 3 saptamani si 2 zile (4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days) (2007) · Gomorra (Gomorrah) (2008) · Das weiße Band (The White Ribbon) (2009) · The Ghost Writer (2010)