Has anyone seen that movie Dancer In The Dark, starring the Icelandic singer Bjork? I just recently bought it on DVD and just finished watching it for the first time last night. I think it's a great movie, but let me warn anyone out there who hasn't seen it: I swear, this movie will creep up on you and tear your heart right out! 
(And I mean that in a very, very good way...
)
Bjork plays a near-sighted (almost blind) immigrant woman named Selma who works a factory job in an American town, lives in a trailer, scrupulously saves up for an eye operation for her son, and whenever life gets a little tough, she fantasizes what her life would be like as a Hollywood musical! I personally found the movie slow-going at first, didn't really get into at that much at the beginning, and at first found the movie-musical fantasy sequences a tad gimmicky. I started to wonder when it was going to get to the point. But little by little it absorbs and involves and insinutates itself into the viewer's psyche. Trouble begins when Bjork's character shares a secret concerning money with someone very close to her whom she makes the mistake of trusting. From there, things escalate when there is a theft, then a violent death, and then a trial and incarceration. More than that I will not reveal...
I had heard about this film and its director, Lars von Trier, for many years - good things and bad things alike - but for one reason or other never got around to seeing it. I'm glad I finally did, because it really is a one-of-a-kind cinema experience. I'm only sorry I never got to see it in a movie theater. I haven't yet listened to the full commentary track, and I'm sure that will turn out to be very interesting!
(And I mean that in a very, very good way...)Bjork plays a near-sighted (almost blind) immigrant woman named Selma who works a factory job in an American town, lives in a trailer, scrupulously saves up for an eye operation for her son, and whenever life gets a little tough, she fantasizes what her life would be like as a Hollywood musical! I personally found the movie slow-going at first, didn't really get into at that much at the beginning, and at first found the movie-musical fantasy sequences a tad gimmicky. I started to wonder when it was going to get to the point. But little by little it absorbs and involves and insinutates itself into the viewer's psyche. Trouble begins when Bjork's character shares a secret concerning money with someone very close to her whom she makes the mistake of trusting. From there, things escalate when there is a theft, then a violent death, and then a trial and incarceration. More than that I will not reveal...
I had heard about this film and its director, Lars von Trier, for many years - good things and bad things alike - but for one reason or other never got around to seeing it. I'm glad I finally did, because it really is a one-of-a-kind cinema experience. I'm only sorry I never got to see it in a movie theater. I haven't yet listened to the full commentary track, and I'm sure that will turn out to be very interesting!
As A Radiohead fan, I'd love to hear the album version of I've Seen It All which is done as a duet between Bjork and Thom Yorke. I also love the Overture melody, which is also the melody of the last two numbers.
