Dancer in the Dark (2000)

Director:

Lars von Trier

Writer:

Lars von Trier (written by)

Release Date:

6 October 2000 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Musical

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:

Secret | Blind | Money | Disturbing | Stage Play

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 22 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:

Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

New Zealand:R13 | Iceland:14 (original rating) | Iceland:16 (video rating) | Italy:T | 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:

Writer-director Lars von Trier's first draft screenplay was called "Taps" and featured tap dancing in every scene. Choreographer Vincent Paterson convinced von Trier that it would be far too difficult, if not impossible, to teach something as "technical" as tap dancing to Björk and the other cast members within a reasonable period of time. Von Trier rewrote the screenplay so that the songs would be more in the style of "traditional" Hollywood musicals, but retained some of the tap-dancing motif with the character of Oldrich Novy.

Goofs:

Factual errors: Even though the character of Selma is from Czechoslovakia, her accent is not Czech.

Quotes:

Lines on screen: They say it's the last song. They don't know us, you see. It's only the last song if we let it be.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Foot on the Moon (1999)

Soundtrack:

CVALDA

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.