| | Dancer In The Dark DVD (4 Customer Reviews)
| Category | Musical DVDs, Dramas Movies, Essential Cinema Videos, Dancers, Hollywood, Illness | | Starring | Catherine Deneuve, Björk Guðmundsdóttir, Stellan Skarsgaard, Peter Stormare, Udo Kier, David Morse, Jean-Marc Barr, Cara Seymour | | Director | Lars von Trier | | Art Director | Anders Refn | | Co-Producer | Lars Jonsson, Marianne Slot | | Costume Designer | Manon Rasmusen | | Director of Photography | Robby Muller | | Editor | Francois Gedigier, Molly Malene Stensgaard | | Executive Producer | Peter Aalbaek Jensen | | Music | Björk Guðmundsdóttir | | Producer | Vibeke Windelov | | Production Designer | Karl Juliussen | | Screenwriter | Lars von Trier |
Bjork, Catherine Deneuve, David Morse, Joel Grey, Peter Stormare, Jean Marc Barr - Dir:Lars von Trier Bjork delivers the performance of the year in Lars von Trier's powerful film about a young woman in rural America who, facing blindness, escapes into the fantasy world of Hollywood musicals. The final installment in Lars von Trier's Golden Heart trilogy (which includes BREAKING THE WAVES and THE IDIOTS), DANCER IN THE DARK takes the director's original blend of heightened pseudorealism, fabricated melodrama, and the priciples of the Dogme 95 genre to a dangerously intense level. The story concerns Selma (Björk), a Czech immigrant living in 1964 Washington State with her 12-year-old son, Gene (Vladan Kostic). On the verge of blindness, Selma spends her days working in a factory, as well as performing other odd jobs, in order to save up enough money to pay for an operation that will cure Gene of the same disease. To pass the time, Selma fantasizes that her own life is a musical, one in which her friends join her in sweeping song-and-dance routines. After her neighbor Bill (David Morse) discovers Selma's hidden savings and steals them from her, she is forced to perform an act of salvation that will condemn her forever. As the innocent Selma, Björk is one of the most fragile and heartbreaking presences the screen has ever seen. Her unbearably moving performance is enough to keep the viewer mesmerized throughout, even amid the story gaps and inconsistencies. Featuring compassionate supporting turns by Catherine Deneuve and Peter Stormare, DANCER IN THE DARK is an unrelenting gut punch that will have sympathetic audiences quivering with uncontrollable emotion. Theatrical release: September 23, 2000
Shot on location primarily in Denmark, at the Zentropa Films studio.
Lars von Trier's film, which won the prestigious Palme d'Or at the 2000 Cannes Festival as well as Best Actress award for Björk's performance, was the opening night selection for the 2000 New York Film Festival.
Von Trier was unfamiliar with Björk when he first conceived the idea for his melodramatic musical, but after being introduced to her he rewrote the story to better fit her as an individual (including the introduction of Selma's adolescent son).
DANCER IN THE DARK was filmed in Sweden and Denmark, although it is set in Washington State in the United States and is in English.
About the experience of shooting the film Björk said, "I hated it," claiming she would never make another film. Lars von Trier said, "Though I know she doesn't believe
me, I love her very much." Most of their fights were not over acting but over the soundtrack; Björk had written songs (known as SELMASONGS) for the movie, but the sound editors had, in Björk's words, "chopped my tunes!" She actually walked off the set for four days in protest before coming back and gaining complete control over her music.
Björk's video for "It's Oh So Quiet" (directed by Spike Jonze) served as inspiration for von Trier in writing the movie with Björk in mind for the lead role.
The National Board of Review, Paul Tatara of cnn.com, John Anderson of Newsday, Ed Halter of the New York Press, and the Second Annual Village Voice Film Critics' Poll named DANCER IN THE DARK one of the 10 best films of 2000; Desson Howe of the Washington Post and Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly named it the best film of 2000.
The National Board of Review awarded Björk Outstanding Dramatic Musical Performance for her role in DANCER IN THE DARK; the Online Film Critics Society awarded her Best Cinematic Breakthrough.
Björk was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture--Drama.
Björk, Lars von Trier, and Sjon Sigurdsson were nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Original Song--Motion Picture for the song "I've Seen It All."
No film of 2000 sparked more artistic controversy than DANCER IN THE DARK; in addition to making myriad top 10 lists and winning the Palme d'Or at Cannes, the film was named the worst film of the year by the Guardian Limited (UK) and other sources. Dancer In The Dark Quotes/Excerpts: "What is there to see?"--Selma (Björk) to Jeff (Peter Stormare)
Dancer In The Dark Reviews: Ranked #1 in Entertainment Weekly's "Lisa Schwarzbaum's BEST MOVIES OF 2000"
-- Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly "...The spellbinding DANCER IN THE DARK aims right for the heart and aces its target. And Bjork is thrilling, possessed of a face the camera embraces and an emotional range as compelling and varied as her music..."
-- Peter Travers, Rolling Stone "...It smashes down the walls of habit that surround so many movies. It returns to the wellsprings..."
-- Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times "...Utterly overpowering....Björk, in her movie debut, seems to be inventing a new style of film acting, if not an entirely new kind of human being..."
-- A. O. Scott, New York Times "...Highly original..."
-- Mike Clark, USA Today "...[Bjork delivers] a performance that is warm, heart-breaking and harrowing....This'll be the most involving and traumatic cinematic experience of your year..." -- 5 out of 5 stars
-- Dan Jolin, Total Film "...[The] musical numbers celebrate and reinvigorate convention....DANCER IN THE DARK is graced with a particular genius..." -- Rating: A
-- Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly
This is the only Björk Guðmundsdóttir video. Dancer In The Dark | List Price | $19.97 (You save $5.52) | | Studio | Warner Home Video | | Orig Year | 1999 | | DVD Encoding | Region 1 | | All Time Sales Rank |  4907  | | CD Universe Part number | 1584842 | | Catalog number | 5199 | | Discs | 1 | | Release Date | Mar 20, 2001 | | Rating | R (MPAA) | | Rating Reason | some violence | | Running Time | 141 Minutes | | Additional Info | Widescreen | | Movie Details | Color; Dolby Surround AC-3 Sound; Dolby Noise Reduction; Surround Sound; Stereo Sound; DTS Stereo; Widescreen |
Dancer In The Dark Movie Review Average Rating: (4.5 out of 5 stars)   Distant but Different
I love the storyline, it kept me interested when I watched it, but some parts dragged on because of the documentary style of shooting. There was no backgroung music during the movie part of this musical, so it's more so you're interested or your just not into it. Overall there are many things in this movie that make you want to whatch it over and over but those negatives do stick out in your mind when you press play.
Submitted by latino_cor (new york, NY) 
Was This Review Helpful? Yes No
 Brutal, Raw-Nerve Honesty
This is not a film for everyone, particularly the emotionally squeamish, but it is an incredibly powerful statement from perhaps the most talented filmmaker currenly working.
Herr Von Trier takes the viewer on one of the most searing emotional roller-coaster rides since his equally fine and disturbing "Breaking the Waves", and like that film, he elicits an extraordinary performance from his leading lady, in this case the Icelandic pop star Bjork. What's remarkable is how he uses her lack of experience as an actress to deepen the traits of the character she portrays, one of the most heart-wrenching in recent memory, and how this performance is played off the one of the still-ravishing (even when she's plebianized, as here) Catherine Deneuve. The film requires some leaps of faith in terms of the plot and psychological motivation, but it remains, for me, one of the most creative, affecting, and influential films of recent years. Fine soundtrack, too (courtesy of the star).
Submitted by mroach (Detroit, MI, USA)
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Absolutly Breathtaking!
This movie is perfect! I love drama's, but this one sure takes the cake! I've never cried so hard! On scale from 1-10...it's a 20!
Submitted by Gretchen (Boston, MA, USA)
Was This Review Helpful? Yes No It's Pure Genius!
This album and movie are absolutely amazing. I bought the album first, knowing that the movie existed, and tried to picture the scenes in my head. But nothing could prepare me for the heartwrenching story that followed, step by step, the pure genius of Bjorks music. I would recommend both the movie and soundtrack to anyone who can appreciate original music, beautiful film-making and a story line that matches no other when it comes to emotional arousal.
Submitted by a reviewer (Baltimore, Maryland, USA)
Was This Review Helpful? Yes No It's Pure Genius!
This album and movie are absolutely amazing. I bought the album first, knowing that the movie existed, and tried to picture the scenes in my head. But nothing could prepare me for the heartwrenching story that followed, step by step, the pure genius of Bjorks music. I would recommend both the movie and soundtrack to anyone who can appreciate original music, beautiful film-making and a story line that matches no other when it comes to emotional arousal.
Submitted by a reviewer (Baltimore, Maryland, USA)
Was This Review Helpful? Yes No 1 of 1 found this helpful.
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Dancer In The Dark DVD Region 1
Snap Case
Anamorphic Widescreen -
1.85
Letterbox - 2.35
Audio:
Dolby Digital 5.1 - English
DTS Surround 5.1 - English
Additional Release Material:
Trailers: Original Theatrical Trailer
Song Access:
1. Jump to a Song with Commentary by Bjork
Documentary:
1. 100 CAMERAS: CAPTURING LARS VON TRIER'S VISION
2. CREATING VINCENT PATERSON'S DANCE SEQUENCES
Alternate Scenes:
1. CVALDA
2. Alternate version of I'VE SEEN IT ALL
3. Second Alternate version of I'VE SEEN IT ALL
Audio Commentary:
1. Lars Von Trier - Director, Wibeke Windloev - Producer, Per Kirkeby - Artist, Peter Hjorth - Technical Supervisor
2. Vincent Paterson - Choreographer
Text/Photo Galleries:
Filmographies: Cast & Crew
DVD-ROM Features:
Web Access
Dancer In The Dark Video 71 Fragments of a Chronology of Chance, Bjork - Greatest Hits, Bjork - Hidden Place, Camera Buff, Carl Theodor Dreyer - Day of Wrath/Ordet/Gertrud, Krzysztof Kieslowski Collection, Martha, Martha...Martha, Passion of Joan of Arc, Requiem for a Dream, Short Film About Killing, Vera Drake, Woman Is a Woman Dancer In The Dark DVD Awards Purchase Dancer In The Dark Movie To buy, Click on price to add to cart
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