Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #17765 in DVD
• Released on: 2002-08-12
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Box set, PAL, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 134 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Masterpiece or masquerade? Lars von Trier's digicam musical split the critics in two when it debuted at last year's Cannes film festival. There were those who saw it as a cynical shock-opera from a manipulative charlatan, others wept openly at its scenes of raw emotion and heart-rending intensity. There is, however, no in-between. Dancer In The Dark is that rarest of creatures, a film that dares to push viewers to the limits of their feelings.

In her first, and most probably last screen performance (she has foresworn acting after her bruising on-set rows with von Trier), brittle Icelandic chanteuse Björk plays Selma, a Czech immigrant living in a folksy American small town with her young son Gene. Selma is going blind and so will Gene if she does not arrange an important operation for him. To cover the expense, Selma works every hour she can, cheating on her eye tests so she can keep working at the local factory long after her vision has become too unreliable to work safely. She sublets a house from local-cop Bill (David Morse) and his wife, Linda (Cara Seymour). When nearly bankrupt Bill asks Selma for a loan she refuses, but he later returns and steals the money, which she demands back in a furious confrontation. In the ensuing mélee, Bill is fatally shot and Selma is arrested and put on trial. Will justice prevail?

Von Trier's passionate, provocative film runs all our emotional resources dry with suspense, giving us occasional flashes into Selma's gold heart and mind with superb song-and-dance numbers she conjures to banish the nightmare (Björk also wrote the score). At some two-and-a-half hours, it's not for lightweights, but anyone bored with today's smug, "ironic" cinema will relish this as an astonishing assault on the senses and a stark reminder of Von Trier's uncompromising talent. --Damon Wise

DVD Description
DVD Special Features
Selma's Song
Interview with Lars Von Trier
Behind the Scenes
Theatrical Trailer
Audio Description for the Visually Impaired
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles: English for the Hard of Hearing

Synopsis
The final installment in Lars von Trier's Golden Heart trilogy (which includes BREAKING THE WAVES and THE IDIOTS), DANCER IN THE DARK takes the director's original blend of heightened pseudorealism and fabricated melodrama to a dangerously intense level. The story concerns Selma (Bjork), a Czech immigrant living in 1964 Washington State with her 12-year-old son, Gene (Vladan Kostic). On the verge of blindness, Selma spends her days working in a factory, as well as performing other odd jobs, in order to save up enough money to pay for an operation that will cure Gene of the same disease. To pass the time, Selma fantasizes that her own life is a musical, one in which her friends join her in sweeping song-and-dance routines. After her neighbor Bill (David Morse) discovers Selma's hidden savings and steals them from her, she is forced to perform an act of salvation that will condemn her forever. As the innocent Selma, Bjork is one of the most fragile and heartbreaking presences the screen has ever seen. Her unbearably moving performance is enough to keep the viewer mesmerized throughout, even amid the story gaps and inconsistencies. Featuring compassionate supporting turns by Catherine Deneuve and Peter Stormare, DANCER IN THE DARK is an unrelenting gut punch that will have sympathetic audiences quivering with uncontrollable emotion.

Customer Reviews

original, sad, a little odd...
After watching this film I have stumbled across many a bad review, critics slating Bjork saying that it was a bad move to ever make this film etc. And to be totally honest it's hard get an idea of the film from reviews on here becuase Bjork fans are pretty die hard and will love it regardless, anyone who hates Bjork would hate the film so I'll tell you what camp i'm in; I like Bjork. I love some of her stuff, I hate some it. Now the film? Fantastic!
It's so original that i can see how many people would be put off but i thought it was one of the best films I had seen for a very long time. However, be warned, as well as slightly weird this is traumatising! I was in floods of tears for most of the night! Definitely watch this if just for a unique experience but make sure you've got some tissues handy

A staggeringly intense emotional rollercoaster
I've never been affected like this by a film ever before. I was completely floored by this remarkable film. I was knocked-out by Bjork's quite staggering performance; the acting alone is stunning but when you add the fine music and clever, sentimental and entertaining musical (as in genre) interludes (all written by Bjork herself), it's even more impressive. There are some chilling moments where your heart breaks for Selma, as she is dead-ended into awful situations and in a moment realises the implications of her actions. These scenes are quite fightening and unsetttling in terms of Bjork's portrayal of her now desolate, broken character. I've never watched any film so intensely hard-hitting on an emotional level and so impossible to detatch from reality. Just when you think you can keep a lid on your emotions, the last few scenes come along with some real shocks and surprises. I'm not sure "enjoyment" is the right word for watching this, but it's one hell of an experience. Superb performances also from the Catherine Deneuve, and the young lad playing Selma's son. This is literally a breathtaking film and one would have to be as hard as granite not to be affected by it. If you're emotionally soft, be warned. You'll be floored just like I was.

Abandon all hope
Inept, tedious, overlong. Bjork - Let's call her Berk - is truly the most awful actress on the planet, and why this talentless egotist was allowed on screen is solely because she has as fan base consisting of the musically challenged.
Filmed on what appears to be a nonworking camera it's a triumph of hype over content.
I thought this was the worst film ever made - until I saw Way of Life.
I can't understand why anyone likes this movie. But then I don't understand how British voters returned Margaret Thatcher to power as she systematically destroyed Britain's industry, health service, transport system, and moral climate. Ditto the talentless Lars von Triers and cinema.