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Lars Von Trier is a sad man whose gloom bleeds into his films. My only exposure to Trier’s work has been “Antichrist” and his most recent film “Melancholia.” The first is a dark, twisted antithesis to the Garden of Eden story. The second is a surprisingly beautiful vision of the end of the world. These are films made by a depressed but talented filmmaker.

“Dancer in the Dark” stars Icelandic singer-songwriter Björk as Selma Jezkova, a poor Czech immigrant who lives in a trailer behind the home of an American couple, Bill and Linda Houston (David Morse and Cara Seymour). The Houstons help Selma take care of her troubled son, Gene (Vladica Kostic), seeing him off to school when she has to work.

Selma has an undying love for musicals. She works day after day at a factory where she frequently day dreams, turning the machine noises into music. In between her work and her home life, Selma rehearses for the part of Maria in a small production of “The Sound of Music.”

Alas, tragedy creeps over Selma’s shoulder: She is going blind from a hereditary disease that has passed on to her son. Selma saves all the pay she receives from her job so she can afford an operation for Gene when he is old enough one day.

Selma also has a shy admirer named Jeff (Peter Stormare) and a devoted friend, Cvalda (Catherine Deneuve). As Selma’s eyes progressively grow worse, the condition starts to affect her job performance and eventually leads to an even greater tragedy than the loss of vision that she freely accepts.

“Dancer in the Dark” grows into something extraordinary when we discover that the film itself is a musical. As sad as it all is, Selma’s soaring and melodic songs—all written by Björk, Trier and Icelandic poet Sjón—lend a startling beauty to the film. Björk is an incredible talent in the music industry, and her performance here truly is something special.

Trier has a gift for gathering impressive casts, and in this film he surrounds Björk with a stellar group of actors, including Stormare, Deneuve, Morse, Seymour and Joel Grey, who plays a small put crucial role as a famous Czech actor and performer.

Not everyone who sees Trier’s melancholy musical will buy into the peculiar style. Trier mostly shoots his films hand-held with touches of static camera, and “Dancer in the Dark” is no different. The musical segments are shot with static cameras while Selma’s reality is shot hand-held, an interesting and effective choice.

There is also the musical element that some may find difficult to digest. Selma’s life is so forlorn that she tries to get away from it any way she can. Through creating fantasy musical numbers, she is able to feel uplifted, happy and hopeful, if only for a brief amount of time. The way Trier blends this element into the film takes nerve, but thanks to Björk’s energy and power, both as an actress and a composer, “Dancer in the Dark” soars high before diving low into the despair of Selma’s life.

“Dancer in the Dark” is astonishingly bold. It is equally tragic and beautiful. Selma’s sad life grows sadder by the scene, while Trier and Björk continue to twist and toy with our expectations to create an unlikely, thoroughly original and heartbreaking musical of sacrifice and circumstance.

I really enjoyed the deconstruction of cinematic form and elements. I really applaud Bjork’s beautiful and tragic performance. I really loved the comparison between the extravagant, avant-garde even, musical numbers with her grim, cold reality. These are a few of my favourite things. However, the decision to use hand held, digital cameras is both a compliment and a hindrance. The story is far too melodramatic and unreasonable to fully draw yourself into more dramatic elements of the characters circumstances. Selma’s actions are at the demand of far too simple motives which give the character a lack of grounding. I felt at a distance from everything until the final scene, which is extremely moving and somewhat redeeming. Some of the acting is horribly wooden, further disallowing suspension of disbelief.

I have no issue with Von Trier’s treatment of subject material and his bringing forth of controversial attitudes and subject matter. An artist should expose what he feels, and I think Von Trier is possibly one of the greatest film artists alive today. This doesn’t mean he is excusable from scrutiny, and unfortunately there is much to scrutinize here. That is not to say there isn’t some certain brilliance to be found, in the central performance, in the technical disregard for traditional technique and in the both painful and beautiful musical numbers. However, after first viewing I’m not quite sold on the execution, and will most certainly try to discover what everyone else raves on about, if Lars permits me.

One of the toughest movie experiences I’ve ever had. Deeply affecting and moving, the charachters gripped me. It was hard to watch at times, a joy to watch sometimes too. I sat through it and it was very rewarding. Kudos to the director. Great acting too. For me Von Triers best film. Say what you want about Trier (i’m not a big fan of the Dogme style and philosophy), but his movies definitely affects you in some way.

From an objective standpoint, this is an emphatically unique and incomparable piece of filmmaking that breaks and contorts the boundaries of cinema until there’s nothing left but scattered ashes. With a lacerating lead performance from pop star Björk – soaring through surreal musical numbers that provide short-lived escapism into her naïve subconscious – she manages to stronghold a peerless portrayal within an exceedingly complicated character. Yet von Trier’s coldly manipulative grasp never quite sells the material, and his apparent fetishism surrounding his lead women becoming submissive, sacrificial lambs is troubling to say the very least. What is a boldly ambitious artistic endeavor is nevertheless tarnished by his sadistic sensibilities, and what proves to be a truly virtuoso performance is only belied by the film’s forced melodrama.

Holy sh..!! This guy is just unbelievable, more of his films i see the more i want. I think I’m becoming Trier addict.
Dancer in the dark Is just amazing, how Lars presents us this innocent, world and people loving Selma, but also on the other hand, she was really possessive and egoistic if you look. She loved her child so much, she didn’t care what he wanted, but what she wanted for him and what was best for him, by her opinion. Of course she wanted only best for him, but, would he choose his life like that also? This is probably a “problem” in every family with loving parents who want only best for their kids, but they don’t ask the kids if this is really what they want. It was in the end the choice about his life wasn’t it. How he plays with the camera and the colors is just breathtaking. And in some parts of the film, i really got an idea that i’m watching “behind the scenes” movie, because it was so real, so true, so honest…shit! Brilliant, really! But hey, i don’t take Dancer in the dark as his best work by my opinion, so imagine.
Bjork left me speechless here. And one more thing; hope Peter Stormare wont go to singing carrier=)

The first time I saw “Dancer In The Dark” a co-worker gave it to me on DVD and told me to watch it. Okay, I go home, pop the disk in and sit back. At first I was like, “WTF” is this. But I was patient and moment by moment this film reeled me into its vortex. Bjork and all the actors do an amazing job with their characters. The cinematography is welcoming to the eyes and I can’t say enough about the choreography, especially in the musical sequence on the train tracks. I love Selma’s innocence and purity and the clarity of which it is taken advantage of in the story. Oh how I know it too well. However, the ending made my jaw drop to the floor. I’ve become so accustomed to happy endings that when…(we’ll I wont’ give it away) but for those who have seen it…it left me with a feeling that I have no words for.

I’ve watched “Dancer In The Dark” again more recently and I can say now more than ever…I LOVE THIS FILM.