Plot Details: This opinion reveals major details about the movie's plot.
After the release of his 1996 melodramatic masterpiece Breaking the Waves and the 1998 2nd Dogme 95 film The Idiots, Danish filmmaker Lars von Trier was starting to finish another trilogy about women. For his third and final part of the Golden Hearts trilogy, von Trier decided to take the melodrama of Breaking the Waves and the stripped-down film aesthetics of The Idiots for a film that many fans wouldn't expect from von Trier.
For 2000's Dancer in the Dark, a film about a Czech immigrant raising her son in 1964 America trying to raise money to save her son's sight as her own vision diminishes, von Trier goes for the revolutionary age of digital video. In the spirit of Dogme 95, von Trier goes for natural sounds and realism for storytelling as he also combines another film genre that he loves, the musicals. In Dancer in the Dark, von Trier uses the musical as an escapist backdrop to the character of Selma, played by Icelandic pop singer Bjork, as her world crumbles down as she tries to save the life of her own son in one of von Trier's most powerful achievements.
The film begins with a Czech immigrant in Washington, USA in 1964 named Selma as she is rehearsing to play Maria in production for The Sound of Music. For Selma, it's a dream that she always wants as she uses the musical as an escape. When she's not rehearsing, she works at a factory with her European friend Kathy (Catherine Devenue), as they would often watch musicals just for fun whenever they're not working. Selma also has encounters with Jeff (Peter Stormare) as he asks if she would have a ride home. Unfortunately on that day, Selma's landlord cop Bill (David Morse) gives her a ride home after her son Gene (Vladica Kostic) gets in trouble for not going to school. Selma is always grateful for Bill and his wife Linda (Cara Seymour) as she meets up with a doctor (Stellan Skarsgard, in an uncredited cameo) about her eyes. Fearing that her blindness might be inherited to her son, Selma saves up nearly $2000 for an operation to save her son's sight as her begins to diminish.
At work, Selma tries to hide her blindness from everyone including her foreman (Jean-Marc Barr) that nearly gets in trouble when she almost destroys a tool but was saved by Kathy. The blindness also troubles her ability to do the play, as play director (Vincent Paterson) is concerned that she might not be able to do it since she's the star. Selma meets up with Bill, who is afraid that he might lose his house since Linda keeps spending money as he fear he'll lose everything, even though he spent a little money to buy Gene a bicycle for his birthday. Selma decides not to say anything as she continues to raise Gene while having brief talks with Jeff. To raise more money, she works overtime that leads to her usual stint of daydreaming as she dreams of singing with Kathy that causes trouble with her job and eventually, she gets fired although her foreman is hoping to find her a safer job.
Selma then sees Jeff in the train tracks as she has another daydream where she sings as he learns that she's becoming blind. Jeff decides to meet later in the day at her house as she learned that the money she saved was stolen. She asks for Bill as Linda suspected her of trying to flirt with him when Selma confronts Bill. Bill is anguished with guilt as he stole her money but he needs it to pay the mortgage. Selma needs it now to pay for the operation as she and Bill get into a confrontation leading to tragedy. She has another musical dream as she meets with Jeff where she walks to a hospital where she meets the operation doctor (Udo Kier) and gives him money. Jeff later drives her to the play rehearsal as she has another dream but then gets arrested. Selma is forced to go on trial where a district attorney (Zeljko Ivanek) interrogates her as she claimed her father was a Czech film star named Oldrich Novy (Joel Grey). Novy arrives saying that Selma isn't her daughter as she dreams of having a musical dance with Novy.
Selma unfortunately, is found guilty and is forced to go to jail where she befriends a guard named Brenda (Siobhan Fallon) as she gets visits from Kathy and Jeff. Kathy finds her an attorney who'll set an appeal but Selma wants to accept her faith in order to save her son's life as it leads to a heartbreaking yet sadistic ending.
Written and directed by Lars von Trier, Dancer in the Darkis clearly von Trier's most accessible effort to date despite his emphasis on handheld digital video cameras that he used since he is also credited as the camera operator. Emphasizing on the spirit of Dogme 95, von Trier brings a natural look to the film as opposed to the more cinematic, heightened look of most films today. With Breaking the Wavescinematographer Robby Muller, von Trier gives the film a look that is captivating from its grayish tone in many scenes to the more colorful tone in the musical interludes where Muller shines in his vast cinematography, especially since the musical numbers features nearly 100 cameras in use. For von Trier, it’s another experiment that succeeds as he just tries to bring a real look without any gloss that has been seen in Hollywood films.
The film's story is a wide mix of melodrama and musicals as Bjork's Selma says that in musicals, nothing dreadful happens. Well with von Trier, that isn't the case. Especially the ending that is just heartbreaking because of its sadistic nature as von Trier uses pain for a huge, emotional climax like he did in Breaking the Waves. Really, the story is about a woman saving the life of her child by sacrificing herself and it's a heartbreaking story. While the film's first act starts off a bit slow (if you don't count the colorful overture in the film's first few minutes), it picks up just as the musical numbers come in with amazing choreography from Vincent Paterson as well as original music from Bjork with additional compositions from longtime Bjork collaborator Sjon Sigurdsson and von Trier himself.
The music definitely plays up to the spirit of musicals that von Trier has loved with its mix of electronic beats and textures as well as Rodgers & Hammerstein arrangements all put in a lush, grand tone. Bjork is clearly the star of the music as the cast itself sings many of the great songs on the film (although Peter Stormare's vocals were replaced by Radiohead's Thom Yorke in the film's soundtrack entitled Selmasongs). The music really serves a purpose in the same way von Trier used the music as an emotional outlet in Breaking the Waves.
Another great aspect of the film, which received a lot of controversy when it premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2000, was von Trier's depiction of America. While the film was shot in Sweden, von Trier does give a nice idea in what America would look like although in Washington, it's usually rainy. In many respects, I think von Trier is looking at America in a dream in the same way Stanley Kubrick used London as New York City for Eyes Wide Shut. Really, it's America in a dreamier tone in reference to the Hollywood musicals that Selma loved. Really, von Trier isn't trying to knock America but he knows that he doesn't have to go there to know what's going on since he's pretty much afraid to go on a plane and doesn't like to travel very much. Despite the controversy and mixed reaction at the festival, von Trier did get his much-awaited Golden Palm award.
The film's cast is amazing not just in their singing voices but in their roles as well. While von Trier veterans like Stellan Skarsgard, Udo Kier, and Jean-Marc Barr had small roles, their cameos were fun to watch in their respective roles while Vincent Paterson is excellent as the theater director and Zeljko Ivanek is excellent as the D.A. and doing a great job in an American accent. Joel Grey is amazing to watch in his small role as Oldrich Novy as he shows his graceful talent as a dancer and as an actor, especially since he hasn't been heard from since his Oscar-winning performance in Bob Fosse's Cabaret.
Cara Seymour is wonderful as the scornful wife Linda, especially playing a character that later on, is loathed for her actions and Seymour does an excellent job in that performance. Vladica Kostic is wonderful as Gene, especially since he just plays a kid in a restraint tone without going over the top or anything. Siobhan Fallon is lovely as Brenda as the scenes with Bjork are gripping to watch, especially in the film's final moments.
For the rest of the supporting cast, the film's best performance easily goes to French film legend Catherine Devenue. Devenue is amazing to watch as Selma's sympathetic best friend who shares her love of musicals. Devenue almost serves as a voice of reason for the anguished, naïve Selma as in the third act; her action nearly upsets Selma as in the end, comes a heartbreaking scene of friendship. Devenue is as enigmatic and masterful in her portrayal. Peter Stormare is superb as the wannabe-boyfriend Jeff by just underplaying the role sensitively and sympathetically and you want him to be her boyfriend. Stormare gives a subtle performance that is quiet and gripping at the same, especially in the film's final act. David Morse is amazing as the anguished Bill who does get sympathy despite his own actions but when Morse sings, he shines as does his character that gives more outlook into this versatile yet, underrated actor.
The film's best performance overall easily goes to Bjork in her first film in many years since she's done film work as a child in her native Iceland. In her first adult performance, Bjork brings a heartbreaking, sympathetic performance that is filled with lost innocence and anguish. The character of Selma is a complex yet flawed character as she brings the escapism in everyone through musicals. Bjork even comes livelier in the musical interludes with her thick Icelandic vocals while in the final act, she comes out with a gripping performance that is so powerful, it will leave you in tears.
Though she won a Best Actress award at the Cannes Film Festival and nominations including an Oscar nod for Best Song for I've Seen It All(that she sang wearing a swan), Bjork says she'll never do another film again. It's probably because of the on-set tension between Bjork and von Trier that got very ugly and though she'll never do another film role, at least we could look forward to her with another album.
Despite a slow pacing early in the film's first act, Dancer in the Dark is a spectacular, genre-bending film from Lars von Trier. For anyone who doesn't like musicals will sure to hate this one as Dancer in the Dark already gained a reputation as a film you either love or hate. Still, it's one of von Trier's superb achievements as he hopes to anger more Americans with his next trilogy about America starting off with 2003's Dogville. With a great cast led by Bjork and Catherine Devenue, wonderful musical interludes, lush cinematography from handheld digital video cameras, and von Trier's mad vision, Dancer in the Darkis one of the most captivating films from the enfant terrible himself, Lars von Trier.
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