This incredible film tore me limb from limb. Directed by Lars von Trier, Dancer in the Dark is a drama/musical
and is quite a departure from the norm for the controversial filmmaker. What makes this film really interesting is
the main character is played by singer Björk and features songs performed and
written by her. If you aren’t a fan of
her music then the songs might not appeal to you as much—I love her music, so
it wasn’t an issue to me. Björk plays
the role of a single mother immigrant who moved to American to provide a better
life for her young son. She has a
terrible secret that she is hiding from everyone and things only get worse from
there.
The story is gripping and Björk put in an absolutely amazing
performance. She is almost child-like in
her view of the world and it makes it easy for the audience to emphasize and
care about what happens to her. The
movie switches between heavy indie-style drama and beautiful musical numbers
and somehow they mesh together perfectly. Usually in a musical, the acting in between numbers is cheesy, but this
movie never falls into that trap.
Dancer in the Dark
is an absolutely soul-crushing movie. It
is unrelenting in its bleakness, but there is always some beauty in
tragedy. Movies like this tend to have a
cathartic effect on me and stick in my mind for several days afterward. The music in this film will probably polarize
some people as Björk has a very distinct sound and style. I found her plaintive-sounding vocals
haunting and a perfect accompaniment to the proceedings. There are some dance numbers as well and the
choreography was a little weak in those parts.
It’s such an interesting dichotomy between the somber mood of the story
and the happy-go-lucky musical numbers interspersed throughout the film. I have never seen anything like it before.
If you aren’t normally a fan of musicals, I’m not sure if
this film will change your mind about them. However, because it doesn’t follow the normal tropes of the genre, it’s
still worth a watch if you are on the fence about them. At the very least, you will be moved by Björk’s
captivating performance and have a chance to see an experimental genre-bending
movie. I cannot recommend this movie
enough.
-Reviewed by Michelle Kisner