Dancer in the Dark (2000)
December 5th, 2004
Let me just say before I begin; I had to get this film twice because the first time of watching it made me so filthily angry that I stopped watching it and deleted the avi files.
So yesterday afternoon, feeling open-minded enough to see this film and give it a fair chance, I sat down to watch it again. The only difference from the last time was that I forced myself to finish it so that my judgement would be fair by saying that I managed to complete it.
Several people I know have said what a wonderfull film “masterpiece” this film was and how the ending is so unexpected. Which to me, would mean that Björk stopped trying to act and actually acted and the whole story would turn out unexpectedly, as in that revolutionary moment in Fight Club where Brad Pitt turns out to be just a figment of Edward Norton’s imagination. Alas, the ending wasn’t unexpected. The story for those of you who haven’t seen it is basically this:
- Björk is a Czech immigrant in the US working in a factory.
- She has failing eye-sight from some genetic issue that renders the person blind by the age of X.
- …and has a son who is likely to have the same blindness issue.
- She lives in a shack at the bottom of the garden of the local town’s Sheriff, who is having financial issues from his wife’s expenditure.
- Due to the possibility of her son contracting the same crippling disease Björk saves every penny she can pay for an operation for her son.
- The Sheriff somehow ends up with her money (good on him)
- She kills him… somewhat blindly (which was worth a giggle)
- Pays for her son’s operation gets arrested court case finds her guilt in the first degree and thus she’d be hung
- she gets hung… the end
Obviously there is more to it, like the absolutely atrocious noise that Björk hithers to claim as “music” popping out everywhere throughout the film.
The filming technique was some what “progressive” in so far as to say that they didn’t bother using a tripod or tools which would of made the filming smoother. If you like to shakey and irratic filming, this is the film for you. Alas, I really was not impressed.
Now call me traditional, but there was absolutely no theme music, or backing to the whole film it was just filled with awkward silences much like that of a reality TV show along with the shakey camera made it absolute poor.
Lastly; the acting was purely focused on trying to help idiotface (Björk) remember her lines, you could see it in the other actors’ faces trying to word her lines out for her.
Very very very last thing ever… Why would a Czech immigrant in the USA have a cockney accent, then disapear back into a poxy Icelandic accent?
Conclusion:
This film was good. No, I mean it! There is so much to learn from this film. We can see the errors of their ways and we can therefore improve upon this.
I understand that this opinion is somewhat extreme and not everyone will agree with my opinion so please… air your opinion too.