Dancer in the Dark (2000)

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Bjork stars as Selma, a Czech immigrant and single mother working in a factory in rural America. She is losing her eyesight and her 10 year-old son stands to suffer the same fate if she can't put away enough money to secure him an operation.

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Directed By: Lars von Trier

Written By: Lars von Trier

Starring: Udo Kier, Catherine Deneuve, Stellan Skarsgård, Peter Stormare, David Morse, Zeljko Ivanek, Jean-Marc Barr, Björk, Siobhan Fallon Hogan, Joel Grey, Cara Seymour, Jens Albinus

Genres: Drama, Crime, Musical

Country: Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Netherlands

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Dancer in the Dark belongs to 94 collections

1. 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die (collaborative: moderated by kozan26 - 234 stars)

2. Palme d'Or (collaborative: moderated by mpowell - 79 stars)

3. 21st Century Top 250 (collaborative: moderated by dardan - 49 stars)

4. Fuck my life (collaborative: moderated by Dorkovsky - 38 stars)

5. The Guardian's 1000 films to see before you die (collaborative: moderated by PeaceAnarchy - 30 stars)

6. They Shoot Pictures 1,000 Greatest Films (2014 revision) (collaborative: moderated by Jehan - 27 stars)

7. Female protagonist (collaborative: moderated by djross - 25 stars)

8. AAA: Empire's five star movies (collaborative: moderated by KasperL - 24 stars)

9. IMDb Top 250 Complete (collaborative: moderated by Jorg - 23 stars)

10. They Shoot Pictures 1,000 Greatest Films (2017 revision) (collaborative: moderated by iconogassed - 22 stars)

11. They Shoot Pictures' Recommended Viewing (collaborative: moderated by Cinephile - 19 stars)

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13. They Shoot Pictures 1,000 Greatest Films (2020 revision) (public: djross - 14 stars)

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15. Doubling The Canon (collaborative - 13 stars)

16. Dance (collaborative: moderated by Dorkovsky - 10 stars)

17. European Film Awards: Best Film (collaborative: moderated by CCLZA - 8 stars)

18. 1960s period film (collaborative: moderated by djross - 8 stars)

19. Skandies (collaborative: moderated by toro913 - 7 stars)

20. TSPDT 21st Century's Top 250 Most Acclaimed Films (2010) (collaborative: moderated by PeaceAnarchy - 6 stars)

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22. TSPDT 21st Century's Top 250 Most Acclaimed Films (2012) (collaborative: moderated by PeaceAnarchy - 6 stars)

23. European Film Awards: Best Film (nominations) (collaborative: moderated by Rubens - 6 stars)

24. Best by different standards (public: sesito71 - 6 stars)

25. They Shoot Pictures: Top 100 Films of the 21st Century (collaborative: moderated by CCLZA - 5 stars)

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45. TSPDT 21st Century's Top 250 Most Acclaimed Films (2011) (collaborative: moderated by PeaceAnarchy - 2 stars)

46. Hate it or love it (collaborative: moderated by comepelicula - 2 stars)

47. Djross musical or dance movie of the year (public: djross - 2 stars)

48. My Top 100 Films (public: AutumnLily - 2 stars)

49. Djross English-language feature film of the year (public: djross - 2 stars)

50. Djross feature film of the year (public: djross - 2 stars)

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52. Top 2000 movies with the most votes on IMDb (public: fanfic - 2 stars)

53. Doubling the Canon (2011 update) (collaborative: moderated by MMAlpha - 1 star)

54. Digital cinematography (collaborative: moderated by Alex Watkins - 1 star)

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58. İnsanlığın kötülüğü (collaborative: moderated by fth.d - 1 star)

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60. Djross 2000s masterpieces (public: djross - 1 star)

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Order by:

TCI | Percentile | Date Rated | # Stars (Reviews)

Stars	User	Rating
14	Spunkie	81 _95th
Von Trier our favorite super villain is into hypnosis again. The movie is so cathartic that it works like a vending machine spiting out emotions. Is there any say on life or a political stance, I don't know. Even if there is, we've heard it a thousand times over. But the humanization hangs above. Just for a twist blended into a musical naivity -not for the film, but for the character-. No one have seen it all, not even Trier.
6	triffid	50 _2nd
I despise the cheap way von Trier tries to manipulate the audience. Watching "Dancer in the Dark" is like watching a film where a cute little bunny is being slowly and painfully dissected alive. I felt almost as if the director himself was standing behind me in the cinema and yelling "Cry! Cry! This is sad!" I refused to be manipulated that way - and hated the film.
6	Shmendrek	5 _96th
A great film that I will never watch again. Horribly, horribly fucking sad. Bjork gives a great performance (even though this film basically put out the lights on her acting career for good) and the movie is really pretty. But the story itself is one of the most heart-wrenching stories ever told. Really painful, really hard to watch, but a great movie all the same. I fucking hate Lars von Trier with all of my immortal soul.
5	SpiderCrusoe	60 _45th
There was more potential in this movie, but at every turning point the director thought, "How can I make the sadness more ham-fisted?"
3	MartinTeller	80 _66th
Horribly misguided, absurdly manipulative and contrived, and it shows a profound lack of understanding about the American legal & penal system. Still, it's incredibly powerful emotionally, and Bjork turns in not only an astounding musical performance, but a truly impressive acting performance as well.
3	frederic_g54	1 _2nd
(2nd viewing) I couldn't recall what was so bad about this film. The first hour is far from bad but the movie shows its true face about an hour in; Disgustingly contrived and manipulative, thank you Lars for shoving emotions down my throat with this loathsome, sad excuse for a story. plus 1 for triffid's review.
3	Cahadras1	99 _98th
disturbing!
3	svenerik	5 _0th
This film left me completely cold. People were crying in the theater Selma is being sentenced to death and I was doing my best not to laugh out loud at how manipulative and inane it all was. The friend I accompanied was very moved but I just had to shrug as he raved about it afterwards. I found it all very contrived, hackneyed, dreadfully dull and obvious and predictable, poorly written, terribly acted (or emoted).
3	BonSequitur	30 _2nd
Either this is a brilliant prank that should go on the annals of trolling, or an amazingly ham-fisted tragedy. Lars von Trier keeps the pretence of spontaneous, honest cinema even as he uses over 100 hand-held cameras to shoot elaborate dance sequences, Björk plays the part of Björk, and the film tries as hard as it possibly can to draw tears. At best, this is a curious tragedy and a hefty tear-jerker; at worse, it's contrived, manipulative, and a two-hour insult to one's intelligence.
3	lisa-	9 _99th
to me, this film is happiness. which is a bit strange considering how transparently it manipulates you into the most depressing circumstances. but the whole point of the movie is the staggeringly beautiful internal fantasy that has been constructed by selma, and how, despite all the awfulness surrounding her, she can indulge in it whenever she wishes. and von trier doesn't destroy this beautiful thing - he in fact nurtures it and celebrates it, which is evident by the final quote of the film.
2	NeuroticErot	85 _74th
Great but jesus it's sad
2	djross	91 _98th
On promising. And capital punishment. And America. Probably the director's most extreme demonstration that however transparent the manipulation, movies may still succeed in soliciting our emotions (essentially a pharmacological restatement of Kuleshov, to the effect that our affective projection of a film operates beneath and beyond the level of cognitive understanding). (Lynch concocts similarly ironic cinema with BLUE VELVET and especially WILD AT HEART: see my review of the latter).
2	Pickpocket	7 _68th
A really good movie up until the court scenes. It's sad how much von Trier doesn't understand the American penal system and the film suffers for it. I didn't find it as sad as everyone else did either. She kills someone and now has to die for it. I don't mean to be a dick but let's be honest here: worse things have happened to better people. Bjork's wonderful voice added so much to the film but I could live without her acting.
2	Suture Self	2 _13th
I'm normally a fan of von Trier but I couldn't take this one seriously. I think the musical aspect of it all ruined it for me. I still love you, Bjork. You are wonderful.
2	Stain	50 _33rd
So much is wrong with this movie. I actually like Bjork's music, but she is quite dull here... as performer, and as actress. We're supposed to believe von Trier and his other Dogmeat pals are just so avant-garde, but the whole "factory sounds lead to musical number" idea is old hat. I have seen low-budget horror films that did a better job of impersonating the United States than this movie does. I think the duet with the corpse takes the prize for "most misguided idea"
2	Langelund (CinemaZone.dk)	100 _99th
Never before or since has I been so deeply affected emotionally by a motion picture. I literally cried like a baby - on and off - for months, and my 15-year-old self was taught a lesson about how powerful movies can be. Dancer in the Dark made the seed for my neverending love for and interest in film as an artform blossom like no other. Hell, it changed my life.
2	luc	95 _98th
Super drama movie that I like very much, beautiful dance-scenes. A movie that you can like or dislike. Excellent for an European movie !
2	krf7	40 _19th
My usual Lars von Trier progression: hopeful, curious, annoyed, and downright hostile.
2	KramYessev	91 _99th
If you fancy having your heart broken over the course of two hours, give this a watch! This is probably the closest I've ever come to crying at a movie now I'm an adult. I was highly sceptical after realising it was a musical but the film rose above all expectations and everything works perfectly in context. The music and acting's great, which just gives me another reason to adore Bjork. Von Trier's heavy-handed portrayal of EVIL AMERICANS is a bit distracting but everything else is perfect.
1	silencer	14 _2nd
I don't understand this kind of movie.
1	CCLZA	90 _95th
A masterpiece of vanguardist filmmaking.
1	Kavu	63 _36th
Great story and solid acting but visually a huge disappointment. I didn't really like the songs either.
1	mucow	1 _0th
I hate this movie on a level even I find unreasonable.
1	bizmurphy	90 _96th
This is the most depressing and disturbing movie I have ever seen. A great film, although not for the light-hearted.
1	gleeb	73 _53rd
Effective melodrama, that has as much to do with America as Gilbert & Sullivan's Mikado has to do with Japan.
1	mistersplice	65 _51st
6+ recommended :: ...and so, so, heartbreakingly sad
1	Boobjuice	87 _89th
A miserable viewing experience that made me cry several times.
1	kittykins	85 _56th
Depressing as hell. One of the few movies I've cried during.
1	paulofilmo	74 _90th
I hated this throughout the first one-hour-and-forty or so and then almost completely fell in love with it. Something very clever is happening here. I'm both scared and intrigued when I don't understand my reaction to something. My reaction wasn't emotional--short of the more crescendo filled, Wagnerian musical pieces--but simply an acceptance of what I was experiencing; like stimulus metamorphosis, or something equally cool sounding.
1	tathiel	88 _92nd
Disturbing...
1	Neonman	90 _91st
I love von Trier, Björk, and misery porn -- how could I not love this
1	Bown	91 _94th
My favourite von Trier. Bjork is fantastic, and this movie makes my heart hurt.
1	Dunder74	7 _68th
The thing with this movie--and before I get into it let me just say von Trier, that dick, totally fucking knew about it--is that you fall in love with Selma, with her sweetness, naivety, and such particular beauty. Few films are brimming with fervent emotion, and Dancer in the Dark has its place in that demographic. There are problems with the film itself, though. Any musical sequences involving anyone, barring Selma and the other immigrant woman, suck. Horrible casting for Bill, seriously.
1	acyberexile	97 _97th
a film that reminds us that films aren't designed to make you feel better, they're just simply designed to make you feel. this isn't entertainment. this isn't a drug carefully produced to mask the side effects of life, this is the very thing that gives all the ulcer patients what they pray to get rid of; this is life itself. it's not a movie experience, what you experience in this movie, you probably won't ever experience in your daily life. this movie is something you live... and that is rare
1	kevinjoseph	77 _94th
There's a certain je-ne-sais-quoi to Bjork's performance which enthralled me. It was more award-worthy than half of the best-actress Oscars given out lately. I definitely didn't expect to get so sucked in.
1	woodoo	90 _82nd
Probably the only musical I can describe as frightening. Let's not kid ourselves, LVT is at his best terrorizing pitiable women.
1	jodigrrl	52 _2nd
Practically unwatchable.
1	Rufam	95 _99th
Trier has crafted an unforgettable and harrowing picture -one that benefits from Björk's sublime performance and singing voice and the director's unique style to become one of the most powerful film experiences I have ever witnessed.
1	Elysian Air	27 _7th
It's astounding that this is actually the work of Lars von Trier. The story is so incredibly ridiculous and the tone is so pathetically manipulative that I thought I was being deceived and was watching the work of someone else. Björk's performance as Selma was excellent, but I feel the tonal shifts into musical territory, even though essential to the story, was laughably bad. I had already lost all respect for the film at that point but the court scenes were just insufferable.
1	maakal	18 _2nd
Sorry. I hated this movie, I hate that the idea for a movie like this would even occur to anyone, and I hated the positive critical reception. Absolutely terrible and in no way redeeming.
1	Nepeta	85 _80th
The script is often absurd and the film is obscenely manipulative, yet it manipulates terrifically putting me through emotions I've never felt before. I'm not sure I want to feel those emotions but the film's power is extraordinary. The music is great delivered via Bjork in one of the best screen performances I've ever seen. The musical scenes with their saturated colours and disregard for reality stand out beautifully against the psuedo-Dogme state the rest of the film is filmed in.
1	karamazov.	60 _80th
LvT pushes cinema to such extremes that the film becomes a deconstruction of the form itself [consider the absurd extent that our diminutive hero becomes victim of tragedy after tragedy], and we observe ourselves interacting with it, but this in itself is something (for director and audience both) to revel in, and be moved by. [edit: I agree with user djross' suggestion that Kuleshov is salient here].
1	anilscn	60 _61st
Spoiler! İlk yarı 95, ikinci yarı 20. Efsane olabilecek bir filmin anası nasıl saflık ve dürüstlük adı altında saçmalıkla sikilir güzel bir kanıt. Daha düşük vermeye kıyamıyorum o duygusallaştığım ilk yarı için. "Oğlum üzülür ve gözleri daha kötü olur o yüzden ameliyatı bilmemesi lazım" ne demek aqqqqq ameliyata bayıltıp mı götürcen yani. onu geçtim senin öldüğünü duyunca üzülmücek mi? abi nolursunuz biraz mantıq pls
1	ADragon91	30 _13th
Considering this was supposed to be a Musical, I was super underwhelmed not gonna lie. I couldn't hear what the lyrics were, the shots weren't all that impressive to me (Yes, I know Lars von Trier filmed this with a crap camcorder on purpose to make it feel more like a Documentary) and I honestly can't tell, was this supposed to be funny or not? Bjork I genuinely couldn't tell if she was good or bad in this. She seemed a bit cartoonish and melodramatic for me to take seriously. Bizarre.

Average Percentile 65.81% from 4349 Ratings