|
starring: Björk, Catherine Deneuve, David Morse, Peter Stormare, Joel Greydirected by: Lars von Trier
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Binding: VHS Tape
EAN: 9780780635913
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Original recording reissued, NTSC
ISBN: 0780635914
Label: New Line Home Video
Manufacturer: New Line Home Video
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: New Line Home Video
Release Date: September 11, 2001
Running Time: 140 minutes
Sales Rank: 29702
Studio: New Line Home Video
Theatrical Release Date: October 06, 2000
Related Items:
Editorial Review:
Amazon.com:
Masterpiece or masquerade? Lars von Trier's digicam musical split the critics in two when it debuted at Cannes in 2000. There were those who saw it as a cynical shock-opera from a manipulative charlatan, others wept openly at its scenes of raw emotion and heart-rending intensity. There is, however, no in-between. Dancer in the Dark is that rarest of creatures, a film that dares to push viewers to the limits of their feelings.
In her first and most probably last screen performance (she has foresworn acting after her bruising on-set rows with von Trier), brittle Icelandic chanteuse Björk plays Selma, a Czech immigrant living in a folksy American small town with her young son, Gene. Selma is going blind and so will Gene if she does not arrange an important operation for him. To cover the expense, Selma works every hour she can, cheating on her eye tests so she can keep working at the local factory long after her vision has become too unreliable to work safely. She sublets a house from a local cop, Bill (David Morse), and his wife, Linda (Cara Seymour). When nearly bankrupt Bill asks Selma for a loan, she refuses, but he later returns and steals the money, which she demands back in a furious confrontation. In the ensuing melee, Bill is fatally shot and Selma is arrested and put on trial. Will justice prevail?
Von Trier's passionate, provocative film runs all our emotional resources dry with suspense, giving us occasional flashes into Selma's gold heart and mind with superb song-and-dance numbers she conjures to banish the nightmare (Björk also wrote the score). At some two-and-a-half hours, it's not for lightweights, but anyone bored with today's smug, 'ironic' cinema will relish this as an astonishing assault on the senses and a stark reminder of von Trier's uncompromising talent. --Damon Wise
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - wow!
Extremely powerful and emotional. Raw. Truly original and like nothing I have ever seen before. I watched this movie for the first time while at a friends house with a group of friends, it broke my heart so many times, by the end I couldn't control my tears. I had to get up and leave the room to burst into tears... Didn't want anyone seeing me crying. But upon returning to their living room, I found I wasn't the only one with wet eyes.... Bjork put on a performance like no other.
Rating: - a keeper
Amazing film! Haunting memories for months.
Not for the mainstream movie goer.
Rating: - will make you sob uncontrollably
I've never seen a movie that gets at your core and gets under your skin like this film. I'm attracted and repulsed by this film at the same time in that it is such a good film but also actually emotionally painful to watch. I've seen this film 3 times and each time I sob uncontrollably at the end. I recommend this film to people but also caution them because it is so powerful that it transcends the surface entertainment that most films are made for. I know it is just a movie but there is something ... Read More
Rating: - great Marxist film
Did anyone notice wahat a beautiful Marxist fim this is. Could be one of the top 10 movies I have ever seen.
Talk to a Marxist scholar and then re watch this film, beautiful.
Rating: - Bjork & Lars von Trier's collaberation pays off
What starts as a seemingly low budget, shaky camerawork & an improvised sounding dialogue, turns into a very unique film. Once you make it through this, you will find a film that you'll never forget. Bjork gives one of the finest performances of an actress on screen. I think she was robbed of the Best Actress nomination that year. Let's see...Oh Julia Roberts (sorry, not putting her down, just not an especially GREAT actress) gave such a knock-out performance for Erin Brokovich that same year! ... Read More
|
