Dancer In The Dark (DVD)

Dancer In The Dark, Lars Von Trier's bleak musical / docudrama hybrid, is, for me, a VERY guilty Guilty Pleasure. It is, in so many ways, a detestable, sadistic, misogynist piece of work. It is swathed in the kind of vacant, ignorant sloganeering that would be embarrassing coming from a sixth-form student, never mind a grown man. It's insulting intellectually, it's manipulative, it's wholly absurd from any narrative perspective... And yet - it has Bjork. This is where I am torn. As much as I detest Lars Von Trier's work - and I so very much detest it - I am in love with everything Bjork has ever put her name to or will put her name to or has ever ...  Read the complete review

One of the best films of 2000 was released first on DVD in Region 2, which is pretty unusual. It's a nicely presented disc, with a disappointingly minimal collection of extras. However, a "New Line Platinum Series" DVD has now been released in Region 1, which features DTS surround sound, two commentary tracks, and two documentaries, none of which are present on the Region 2 release, irritatingly. THE FILM 'Dancer in the Dark' sees Icelandic singer Björk play the part of Selma, a Czech immigrant to the United States, who is slowly losing her eyesight. She struggles to save enough money for her son to have an operation, so that he ...  Read the complete review

I hate Lars so much for making these damneable movies that make me weep like a child. I hate Lars so much for entrancing me in his desperate tales of woe and ill -fatedness. I hate Lars so much...and I love every second I spend in the uncomfortable company of his beautiful films. *Introduction to Lars Von Trier (for those of you who haven't discovered him yet): Graduate of the Danish Film school, his student films (Nocturne and Images of a Relief) earned him Best Film Awards at the 1981/82 Munich Film Festival. Although he also won (jointly) the Grand Prix du Jury at Cannes in 1991, he didn't really attract the public's attention until the ...  Read the complete review

Dancer in the Dark is a very dark and depressing film that is sure to leave you shaken once you've reached its shocking climax. I had frequently heard about this film over the years and it had been described as being a very powerful movie that was bound to leave you broken. Since it was at a very low price at play.com, I decided to purchase it. Without giving much away, Dancer in the Dark tells the story of a single mother (Selma) who while working her job at a factory, loses herself in her imagination where she sees everything as one big musical. The money she makes from the factory is supposedly for her father in Czechoslovakia, but as the story ...  Read the complete review

There have been numerous Hollywood films documenting a woman's struggle in the face of adversity. Usually, such a film will end with the woman either finding love, or success elsewhere, and all her previous pains will be forgotten. 'Dancer In The Dark' on the other hand documents a tragedy to which there is no silver lining. Directed by acclaimed film-maker Lars Von Trier, it follows the life of Czechoslovakian immigrant Selma (Bjork) in 1960's America. Selma comes to America to earn enough money to save her son Gene from a hereditary sight condition that means he will turn blind unless he has an expensive operation. Selma herself is ...  Read the complete review