Normally I do not publish my reviews of older movies, but this one is different. I guess one can say I am challenging myself to write this review. Let's see how it goes.
Honestly, who am I to judge Lars Von Trier? The complexities to his film go over my head, yet they remain so... primal for lack of a better word.
Dancer in the Dark, where do I start?
Bjork. Wow. She may have hated Von Trier with a passion, but her performance in this film was spectacular. It really sucks this film turned her off altogether from acting. She never really wanted to be an actress, but Von Trier's sexism on a day to day basis really turned her off. Actually, according to Von Trier, every day would start out with Bjork saying "Mr. Von Trier, I despise you." Then she spat at him. Another site says she got pissed at him, ran off in the woods and ate her costume, so I really don't know what is the truth and what is an imagined reality.
But boy can she act. It was strange at first because of her youthful, innocent efface. Honestly, I was confused at the start because I thought she was only 12 years old. Evidentially she was 35 when this movie was released, which came to a surprise to me. Wow, she's 45 now. Thats crazy. It is very difficult to tell, even with her permanent smile lines and bright eyes.
Bjork's personality (at least according to her music) is nothing like the actress that she played. Honestly, it was an amazing transformation which proves how well she acted. Once again, it is a very sad thing she was turned off from acting altogether by Von Trier. She's a heck of a lot better of an actress than a singer. Well, that's my personal opinion.
In brief Bjork plays a woman from Czek. She is going blind, yet she is poor so she is forced to work in a factory. Other than her son, the only other people in her life are those she works with and her landlords, a couple whom she lives on their property in a trailer.
As with all Von Trier films, there is a catalyst and then all goes to hell. Her naivety gets the best of her, but she stays true to her word, even as she is going through a horrendous amount of psychological torture.
Personal Affect 5/5
This film really affected me, though in a very negative way. For the past few days I have been in a very amiable mood.. that is up until I watched Dancer in the Dark. I am now officially depressed. But I honestly believe my life could not have been complete without watching this film. This movie contains true horror, and to be honest I could barely take it.
Visuals 5/5
The Dogme 95 influence from his previous works was very prevalent here, however it was by no means a Dogme film. Honestly, the filmmaking is only inspired by this manifesto. The only piece he really keeps is shooting it handheld with a digital camera for the documentary effect. Normally I hate this, but with multiple simultaneous cameras and wonderful editing it takes the ugly duckling and makes it into a swan.
A tidbit of information I found very intriguing was that during the musical sequences they had over 100 cameras set up at the same time, so they would have to only take as few takes as possible.
Story 5/5
Story 5/5
The script is the weakest facet to this complex work, yet at the same time it is the strongest. It tells the story Von Trier wishes, however it led me wanting more. It remains deserving of the highest ranking because it made the points it needed to, and more.
Overall 5/5
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