(Spoilers) I have seen several of von Trier's movies and have come to respect them, but I cannot say that I enjoy them. They surprise, frustrate, intrigue, irritate, and mystify me. None has been a mood enhancer. "Dancer in the Dark" is a case in point. I have seen several movies that make a case against the death penalty, but this one has been the most intense. The prolonged final scenes are painful to watch. The most depressing scene shows the audience slowly leaving after the execution.
Bjork plays Selma, a rather simpleminded young woman who is going blind and has a son who has inherited the condition. Through a sequence of unfortunate events, often implausible and exaggerated, Selma winds up on death row in Washington State in the United States. The movie could be set in almost any western country, except it had to be set in a place where the death penalty was legal, so the state of Washington in the United States was an appropriate choice. The fact that death by hanging was the preferred method of execution in Washington State at the time this movie was set (1964) I am sure excited von Trier's imagination in how he could make the execution as horrific as possible. I suspect that the decision to make Selma blind was to be able to accentuate the barbarity of the execution scene.
I came into this movie pretty much blind, so to speak, and was taken totally by surprise when the drama in Selma's factory was interrupted by a song and dance number. At odd moments the movie takes off into song and dance fantasy land; there are several musical numbers scattered throughout the movie. The scene that has Selma bursting into song on her way to the gallows has to be the most bizarre. The musical numbers are filmed in vibrant colors that contrast with the drab colors in the rest of the movie. The singing and dancing scenes are inventively choreographed.
I knew almost nothing about Bjork before seeing this movie, except that she is a singer. I was impressed by her performance, especially since this was her first. She was required to play some intense scenes that must have been emotionally draining for her--at least they were for me.
The use of hand-held cameras that von Trier so favors is ever-present, combined with rapid pans and zooming in and out. I understand the goals of these techniques--dynamism, more natural performances, attention focusing--but the effect on me is to make me dizzy.
I tend to want to discount von Trier, but I cannot deny his artistry. For example, the overture to "Dancer in the Dark" that has a slowly changing image accompanied by music, captured my imagination. Not sure that the overture has much to do with the rest of the movie, except maybe establish a mood.
Bjork plays Selma, a rather simpleminded young woman who is going blind and has a son who has inherited the condition. Through a sequence of unfortunate events, often implausible and exaggerated, Selma winds up on death row in Washington State in the United States. The movie could be set in almost any western country, except it had to be set in a place where the death penalty was legal, so the state of Washington in the United States was an appropriate choice. The fact that death by hanging was the preferred method of execution in Washington State at the time this movie was set (1964) I am sure excited von Trier's imagination in how he could make the execution as horrific as possible. I suspect that the decision to make Selma blind was to be able to accentuate the barbarity of the execution scene.
I came into this movie pretty much blind, so to speak, and was taken totally by surprise when the drama in Selma's factory was interrupted by a song and dance number. At odd moments the movie takes off into song and dance fantasy land; there are several musical numbers scattered throughout the movie. The scene that has Selma bursting into song on her way to the gallows has to be the most bizarre. The musical numbers are filmed in vibrant colors that contrast with the drab colors in the rest of the movie. The singing and dancing scenes are inventively choreographed.
I knew almost nothing about Bjork before seeing this movie, except that she is a singer. I was impressed by her performance, especially since this was her first. She was required to play some intense scenes that must have been emotionally draining for her--at least they were for me.
The use of hand-held cameras that von Trier so favors is ever-present, combined with rapid pans and zooming in and out. I understand the goals of these techniques--dynamism, more natural performances, attention focusing--but the effect on me is to make me dizzy.
I tend to want to discount von Trier, but I cannot deny his artistry. For example, the overture to "Dancer in the Dark" that has a slowly changing image accompanied by music, captured my imagination. Not sure that the overture has much to do with the rest of the movie, except maybe establish a mood.