Dancer in the Dark
Dir: Lars Von Trier
Star: Bjork, Catherine Deneuve, Jean-Marc Barr, David Morse
Christ, this is grim. Before
you get much past half-way, the central character has lost her role in a local musical, her job and her sight. And it's all downhill from there. Trust Lars von Trier to found a school of film-making...then make a movie which wilfully breaks the Dogma rules about guns and background music; a bit too clever for his own good, methinks. Still, the documentary-style hand-held camera fits Bjork's non-acting (though see the caveat below) and the moments of undiluted emotion which come through are startlingly effective. The songs which she uses as an escape from her dull life are largely well-integrated, save the last one, which I felt severely defused the impact of an almost unbearably raw final ten minutes. Given comments made by the characters, this may be deliberate. It's a film you must buy into whole-heartedly, or it will fail miserably. But if you do...
[Caution: if the shaky-cam work in Blair Witch made you motion-sick, be very careful... Here's Chris's report: "Fifteen minutes into it, I had to literally run out of the theatre and into the bathroom to throw up all over the place. I felt horrible. I washed my face and brushed my teeth and my head would not stop reeling. I drank some water and contemplated going back in but couldn't, not even to get my sister out of there. Eventually she came out to see if I was ok and three other women had come out of there with the same problem." You have been warned...]
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