Dancer in the Dark (2000)

An East European girl travels to the United States with her young son, expecting it to be like a Hollywood film.

Director:

Lars von Trier (as Lars Von Trier)

Writers:

Lars von Trier (as Lars Von Trier), Sjón (librettist) (as Sjón Sigurdsson)

Stars:

Björk, Catherine Deneuve, David Morse

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 35 wins & 48 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Björk	...	Selma Jezkova
Catherine Deneuve	...	Kathy
David Morse	...	Bill Houston
Peter Stormare	...	Jeff
Joel Grey	...	Oldrich Novy
Cara Seymour	...	Linda Houston
Vladica Kostic	...	Gene Jezkova
Jean-Marc Barr	...	Norman
Vincent Paterson	...	Samuel
Siobhan Fallon Hogan	...	Brenda (as Siobhan Fallon)
Zeljko Ivanek	...	District Attorney
Udo Kier	...	Dr. Porkorny
Jens Albinus	...	Morty
Reathel Bean	...	Judge
Mette Berggreen	...	Receptionist

Storyline

1964 in small town Washington state. Selma Jezková, a Czechoslovakian immigrant, and her preteen son Gene live in a rented trailer owned by and on the property of married Bill and Linda Houston, he the town sheriff. Beyond Bill and Linda, Selma has a small group of friends who look out for her, including her primary confidante, Kathy, with who she works, and Jeff who wants to be her boyfriend. Jeff regularly waits outside Selma's workplace long before the end of her shift to drive her home, despite she always refusing in not wanting to lead him on. Her primary job is working on the Anderson Tool factory assembly line, but she does whatever she can to earn money. What only Kathy knows among Selma's friends is that she is slowly going blind, her medical condition being genetic. Selma is barely able to see, just enough to do her job. Her primary reason for moving to the US and for working all the time is to earn enough money for an operation for Gene when he turns thirteen, he who ...

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Plot Keywords:

singing | factory | czech immigrant | prison | tragedy | 

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Taglines:

You don't need eyes to see.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Musical

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for some violence

Did You Know?

Trivia

Björk has said that she would have most certainly walked out this film and quit because of her antagonistic relationship with Lars von Trier, but begrudgingly continued working out of respect for the cast and crew.

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Goofs

When Selma knocks on the door and her foreman answers it, the door opens from the wrong direction, and they are clearly not in the same factory building.

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Quotes

Jeff: [referring to Gene] Why did you have him? You knew he would have the same disease as you.
Selma: I just wanted to hold a little baby.

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Alternate Versions

The original European version had the overture played in dimmed lighting before the curtains opened on the screen. However, Fine Line Features president Mark Ordesky informed director Lars von Trier that such an opening was unfeasible in U.S. theaters, since most American theaters don't have curtains and have electronic projection booths overseen by inexperienced staffers. Thus, von Trier filmed a visual accompaniment to go along with the overture in the U.S. release: a collage of paintings by Per Kirkeby, the artist/husband of producer Vibeke Windeløv.

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Connections

Referenced in Foot on the Moon (1999)

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Soundtracks

Next to Last Song
Written by Björk, Sjón & Lars von Trier
Performed by Björk
Published by Universal Music & Copyright Control

User Reviews

I've fallen in love.

This felt so real. When I watch films these days, I am always watching them with a critical eye for technicality or acting. This film brought me into it's world, the magical world of bjork. Even the musical parts drew me in, because they were so oddly out of place.

I've seen people complaining about Bjork's acting... I honestly haven't felt this emotional over an actors performance in years. And I've seen hundreds of movies this year alone. She made me fall in love, She was innocent, destroyed by the greed of human nature. Honestly, All technical problems aside. I mean the grain was awful, It looks like it was shot with a mini dv camera, and Von trier probably should have hired a camera operator.

This was easily one of my top 10 films I've seen this year.

Details

Country:

Denmark Germany Netherlands Italy UK France Sweden Finland Iceland Argentina Norway Taiwan Belgium

Language:

English German Czech

Release Date:

6 October 2000 (USA)

Also Known As:

Dancer in the Dark

Filming Locations:

Arlington, Washington, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$12,800,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$91,612, 24 September 2000

Gross USA:

$4,184,036

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$40,031,879

Company Credits

Production Co:

Zentropa Entertainments, Trust Film Svenska, Film i Väst

Technical Specs

Runtime:

140 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1