ARTE
ARTE France Cinéma
DR
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Dancer in the Dark
In a world of shadows, she found the light of life.
Selma, a Czech immigrant on the verge of blindness, struggles to make ends meet for herself and her son, who has inherited the same genetic disorder and will suffer the same fate without an expensive operation. When life gets too difficult, Selma learns to cope through her love of musicals, dreaming up little numbers to the rhythmic beats of her surroundings.
- Original title
- Dancer in the Dark
- Language
- EN
- Country
- DK
- Budget
- $12,500,000
- Revenue
- $40,061,153
CinemaSerf
Dec 4, 2025 · via TMDB
You get a clue as to the slightly surreal nature of the drama right from a start that sees Björk and Catherine Deneuve doing their own amateur dramatics rehearsals of “The Sound of Music”! It turns out that the former, “Selma”, is a Czech immigrant to the USA who is suffering from a progressive blindness that she has passed on to her young son. She knows that he still has time to have corrective surgery, but she has to earn the cash to pay for that so works at a tool assembly plant and saves every cent she can. She has a small group of friends, mainly just “Kathy” (Deneuve) and “Jeff” (Peter Stormare) who would like to develop their relationship despite her obvious, though always polite, reluctance. It might be that she could have achieved her goal but for a violent altercation with “Bill” (David Morse) that sees her facing a criminal trial. Now we know what happened, and I suspect we would all be shouting the best course of action from the auditorium, but will “Selma” listen to anyone? Why? Well she has a rather unique psychological recourse when the going gets tough. She imagines that the scenario is to feature in a piece of musical theatre - and, of course, we know that the joyous lyrics and perfectly choreographed dancing will always provide for an happy ending. What chance here, though? Aside from her singing prowess, Björk also presents us with a character that is simultaneously confident and vulnerable at the same time. “Selma” is shy yet outgoing, she has a determination to see her son gets his treatment at all costs, but still has time to dream of being “Maria” (as in Julie Andrews). Now I didn't love the jarring, hand-held, photography; there is a curious frostiness to the look of the film - despite the glowing efforts from the underused Deveuve and I can’t pretend that I fully grasped quite why the dispute with “Bill” followed the path it did, but I still found I cared for this young woman and about what happened to her as her declining sight seemed to become symbolic of something more, something quite sad. It does take it’s time, but there is some humour wrapped up in this frequently quite dark analysis of not just human spirit and resilience but of 1960s small town America. Perhaps singing “My Favourite Things” does work?
badelf
Oct 31, 2025 · via TMDB
I have tremendous respect for Lars von Trier's work, and I deeply admire his courage in attempting to fuse drama with musical theater. "Dancer in the Dark" is nothing if not audacious. Unfortunately, ambition alone doesn't make a successful film, and this one fails both as a drama and as a musical. As drama, the film stumbles on two fundamental levels. First, the handheld, shaky camera movement is completely unnecessary. Von Trier broke other Dogme 95 rules throughout this film, so why cling to this one annoying restriction? The constant jittering ruins suspension of disbelief, pulling us out of the story when we should be immersed in Selma's tragedy. Second, and more damning, there's no redeeming value to the bleak outcome. What have we learned? This is Greek tragedy without the moral lesson—the protagonist dies, and we're left with nothing but emptiness. Catharsis requires meaning, and "Dancer in the Dark" offers none. As a musical, it fares no better. Musicals, even dark ones, require some happiness, continuity, or saving grace. The genre demands transcendence, a moment where song lifts us beyond suffering. Here, there is none. That said, Björk does a tremendous job with what she's given, and casting Joel Grey in the final courtroom musical number was absolutely brilliant, a meta-theatrical stroke that acknowledges the genre's history while subverting it. But brilliance in moments doesn't rescue a fundamentally flawed film. "Dancer in the Dark" is an admirable failure.
FrontrunnerParis
Dec 31, 2020 · via TMDB
Dazzling Björk in this indictment against the death sentence, in tight close-ups. This film is a UFO, musical without being.
User reviews courtesy of TMDB.
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Björk
Selma Jezkova
Catherine Deneuve
Kathy
David Morse
Bill Houston
Peter Stormare
Jeff
Joel Grey
Oldrich Novy
Cara Seymour
Linda Houston
Jean-Marc Barr
Norman
Vincent Paterson
Samuel
Siobhan Fallon Hogan
Brenda
Željko Ivanek
District Attorney
Udo Kier
Dr. Porkorny
Jens Albinus
Morty
Reathel Bean
Judge
Mette Berggreen
Receptionist
Katrine Falkenberg
Suzan / Dancer
John Randolph Jones
Detective
John Martinus
Chairman / Dancer
Stellan Skarsgård
Doctor
Paprika Steen
Woman on Night Shift
Al Agami
Dancer
Anna David
Dancer
Britt Bendixen
Dancer
Troels Asmussen
Dancer (uncredited)
Jonas Alexander Arnby
Assistant Set Propsman
Karl Júlíusson
Production Design
Simone Grau Roney
Set Propsman
Marcel Zyskind
Additional Camera
Lars von Trier
Camera Operator
Robby Müller
Director of Photography
Marcel Zyskind
Focus Puller
Louize Nissen
Assistant Costume Designer
Manon Rasmussen
Costume Design
John Nollet
Hairstylist
Morten Jacobsen
Special Effects Makeup Artist
Vincent Paterson
Choreographer
Linda Daae
Continuity
Lars von Trier
Director
Anders Refn
First Assistant Director
Anders Refn
Second Unit Director
Peter Hjorth
Additional Editing
Yvan Lucas
Color Timer
François Gédigier
Editor
Molly Malene Stensgaard
Editor
Els Vandevorst
Associate Producer
Finn Gjerdrum
Associate Producer
Fridrik Thor Fridriksson
Associate Producer
Mogens Glad
Associate Producer
Tero Kaukomaa
Associate Producer
Avy Kaufman
Casting
Lars Jönsson
Co-Executive Producer
Marianne Slot
Co-Executive Producer
Peter Aalbæk Jensen
Executive Producer
Vibeke Windeløv
Producer
Cecilie Rui
Producer's Assistant
Charlotte Pedersen
Producer's Assistant
Carsten Sparwath
Production Assistant
Charlotte Pedersen
Production Assistant
Louise Grosell
Production Coordinator
James Wilson
Production Executive
Christian Tafdrup
Production Runner
Line Spanning
Travel Coordinator
Anders Barlebo
Unit Manager
Pétur Einarsson
Dialogue Editor
Björk
Music Arranger
Björk
Music Producer
Björk
Musician
Björk
Original Music Composer
Björk
Songs
Kristian Eidnes Andersen
Supervising Sound Editor
Lars von Trier
Lyricist
Sjón
Lyricist
Lars von Trier
Writer
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Sep 22, 2000
New York Film Festival
Sep 26, 2000
Los Angeles, California
Oct 6, 2000
Mar 20, 2001
DVD
