Dancer in the Dark (2000)

An east European girl goes to America with her young son, expecting it to be like a Hollywood film.

Director:

Lars von Trier (as Lars Von Trier)

Writer:

Lars von Trier (as Lars Von Trier)

Stars:

Björk, Catherine Deneuve, David Morse

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 33 wins & 46 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:

czech immigrant | tragedy | singing | daydream | dancing | 

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Taglines:

In a world of shadows, she found the light of life.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Musical

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for some violence

Details

Country:

Denmark Germany Netherlands Italy USA UK France Sweden Finland Iceland Norway

Language:

English German Czech

Release Date:

6 October 2000 (USA)

Also Known As:

Bailando en la oscuridad

Filming Locations:

Arlington, Washington, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$12,800,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$103,102 (Denmark), 10 September 2000, Limited Release

Opening Weekend USA:

$91,612, 24 September 2000, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$4,184,036, 22 December 2000

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$40,031,879, 18 July 2001

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

Did You Know?

Trivia

The name of the Judge is A.D. Mantle, a reference to Anthony Dod Mantle. He was the director of photography of three Dogme 95 films (The Celebration (1998), Mifunes sidste sang (1999), and Julien Donkey-Boy (1999)). Director Lars von Trier was one of the founders of the Dogme 95 movement.

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Goofs

Even though Selma is from Czechoslovakia, her accent is neither Czech nor Slovak.

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Quotes

Selma: You like the movies, don't you?
Bill Houston: I love the movies. I just love the musicals.
Selma: But isn't it annoying when they do the last song in the films?
Bill Houston: Why?
Selma: Because you just know when it goes really big... and the camera goes like out of the roof... and you just know it's going to end. I hate that. I would leave just after the next to last song... and the film would just go on forever.

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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 informed director 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 .

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Connections

References Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954)

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Soundtracks

Climb Every Mountain
Written by Richard Rodgers & Oscar Hammerstein II
Williamson Music
Performed by Björk & Vincent Paterson

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.