Film Review: Dancer in the Dark (2000)

“Succès de scandale” is phrase that could easily describe career of Danish film director Lars von Trier. Few film makers had such ability to stir controversy and later exploit it not only for publicity, but also to win favour among those segments of cultural establishment that appreciate someone’s “edginess”. One such example is his 2000 musical drama Dancer in the Dark, film that , despite very public feud with von Trier’s main star and being booed at its Cannes Film Festival premiere, won Palme d’Or.

The plot is set in small town in Washington state in 1964. Protagonist is Selma Ježková (played by Björk), Czech immigrant and single mother who works day and night in local factory in order to support her young son Gene (played by Vladica Kostic). The only escape from her bleak every day life is her passion towards Hollywood musicals, which made led her to join her best friend Kathy (played by Catherine Denevue) in rehearsal for amateur theatrical production of A Sound of Music. Recently Kathy begins to notice that Selma’s sight began to deteriorate. The reason for that is a secret which Selma told only to her landlord, local policeman Bill Houston (played by David Morse). She is suffering from rare genetically inherited condition that would ultimately make her blind and the same fate await Gene unless he goes to special and very expensive surgery before he is 13. Selma has saved all of her money for surgery. Bill, however, has a secret of his own – due to unpaid mortgage he might lose his home and wife Linda (played by Cara Seymour). While Selma continues to lose not only sight, but her grasp of reality, Bill decides to steal her savings and thus solve his problems, unaware that he would set in motion chain of events with ultimately tragic consequences.

Von Trier had built the reputation of an iconoclast and in Dancer in the Dark he confirmed it by breaking his own rules set in famous Dogme 95 manifesto. The film in part adheres to its principles, since it was shot exclusively on location, with handheld cameras and without original music. On the other hand, the dance and music numbers in the film are complete anti-thesis of Dogme 95 “wov of purity” and represents exactly the kind of Hollywood artificiality von Trier and his followers allegedly rebelled against. Those scenes, each made with 100 different video cameras, are brilliantly staged and they look like it could have been part of any Classic Hollywood musical. By using them, von Trier has illustrated the sharp contrast between protagonist’s fantasies and her miserable reality. Von Trier was very much helped by Björk, famous Icelandic singer and musician at her first major role; she seamlessly used ordinary sounds from real life for the beginning of songs and seamlessly transition the protagonist and the audience into new magical world.

While von Trier’s talent in showing and mixing different styles is unquestionable, some might have issues with the actual content of Dancer in the Dark. Some critics have found certain disturbing similarities between this film and von Trier’s previous work in Breaking the Waves. In both films the heroine is not particularly bright woman willing to sacrifice anything for a person she loves with ultimately tragic consequences. Some of those critics began to see von Trier as misogynist who likes to have his female characters go through endless humiliation, abuse and tragedy only in order to indulge his own fantasy. The other critics found in von Trier’s film something of an inverse image of the idealised America promoted by Hollywood; in Danish film maker’s eyes, America is cold, dark oppressive and brutal place which, unlike civilised and enlightened Europe, even indulges in barbaric practices of death penalty. Arguments for both views can be found in the sad fate of protagonist, forced to suffer indignities that you might find extreme even for the characters in dark dramas by Abel Ferrara. Von Trier, on the other hand, filled his film with extreme characters and situations that cross the line between naturalism and soapy melodrama, often at the expense of characters being convincing. This makes film look like unusual mix of someone’s sadistic fantasies, political pamphlet and soap opera.

Von Trier made few errors in casting. While Björk, despite her lack of experience and despite her hostility to director (resurfaced in 2017 with allegations of sexual harassment following the launch of MeToo movement), does very good job in the role of innocent and semi-retarded heroine. The rest of the cast is, for the most part, wasted. While Udo Kier does good job in small role of doctor and Joel Grey, veteran of Cabaret, gives homage to classic musicals with his mere presence, Peter Stormare and Catherine Denevue have very little to do with their characters. The most disappointing is David Morse, one of the most interesting character actors in Hollywood, who looks quite disinterested in his role and the lack of dance and singing abilities in his act doesn’t help either. Yet, von Trier’s talent is still there and his fans, as well as audience interested in the more unusual and ambitious forms of cinema, is likely to appreciate Dancer in the Dark despite its flaws.

RATING: 7/10 (+++)

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