Dancer in the Dark (2000)

Director:

Lars von Trier

Writer:

Lars von Trier (written by)

Release Date:

6 October 2000 (USA)

Genre:

Musical | Drama

Tagline:

You don't need eyes to see.

Plot:

An east European girl goes to America with her young son, expecting it to be like a Hollywood film.

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Dream Like | Tragedy | Surreal | Prison

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 21 wins & 33 nominations

Cast

Björk	...	Selma Jezkova
Catherine Deneuve	...	Kathy
David Morse	...	Bill Houston
Peter Stormare	...	Jeff
Joel Grey	...	Oldrich Novy
Cara Seymour	...	Linda Houston
Vladica Kostic	...	Gene Jezkova
Jean-Marc Barr	...	Norman
Vincent Paterson	...	Samuel
Siobhan Fallon	...	Brenda
Zeljko Ivanek	...	District Attorney
Udo Kier	...	Dr. Porkorny
Jens Albinus	...	Morty
Reathel Bean	...	Judge
Mette Berggreen	...	Receptionist

Also Known As:

Dancer in the Dark (Denmark) (France)
Myrkradansarinn (Iceland)
Taps (Denmark) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for some violence.

Runtime:

140 min

Country:

Denmark | Germany | Netherlands | Italy | USA | UK | France | Sweden | Finland | Iceland | Norway

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Iceland:14 (original rating) | Italy:T | New Zealand:R13 | Iceland:16 (video rating) | Argentina:16 | Australia:MA | Canada:14A | Chile:14 | Denmark:15 | Finland:K-14 | France:U | Germany:12 (bw) | Hong Kong:IIB | Netherlands:16 | Peru:14 | Philippines:PG-13 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:PG | South Korea:12 | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Arlington, Washington, USA

Company:

Zentropa Entertainments

Trivia:

Björk's first leading role in a feature film. During the shooting, she left the set. No one knew where she was and no one was able to contact her. Shooting was suspended indefinitely. She came back after three days - as can be seen in Von Trier's 100 øjne (2000).

Goofs:

Continuity: When Selma knocks on the door and her foreman answers it the door opens from the wrong direction and they are clearly not in the same factory building.

Quotes:

Selma: There's no more to see...

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Bodilfesten 2001 (2001) (TV)

Soundtrack:

NEW WORLD (OVERTURE)

intensely emotional and deeply pensive

As a fan of Lars Von Trier's earlier works, as well as Bjork's music videos, I was quite excited to see a collaboration between the two. I tried not to expect much, however, as many reviews of the film were quite poor. I couldn't have been more delighted by the film. Bjork's acting ability was superb (it is a shame she will not be acting in the future), and Lars Von Trier's writing and direction proved to be intense and incredible. While he played with different themes in the genres of the Musical, the Neo-Realist film, and the Melodrama, he created a meta film, investigating human nature as well as the nature of film (or digital video) itself. An incredibly emotional film, it also proved to be poignantly intellectual.