Dancer in the Dark

Dir: Lars von Trier

2000

*****

The conclusion to Lars von Trier's Golden Heart Trilogy (following Breaking the Waves and The Idiots) is a harrowing yet beautiful journey of sacrifice and music. I have to confess, I was unaware that it was a musical before I watched, even though Bjork was the leading lady (and I'd heard her soundtrack was great) and that it shared its name with Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse's famous routine from 1953's The Band Wagon, so when the Dogma 95 style of filming was suddenly interrupted with an all singing, all dancing number I was both shocked and exhilarated at the same time. Lars von Trier got kicked out of his own club (Dogme 95 collective) in style with Breaking the Waves but Dancer in the Dark beats it in terms of panache and vibrancy. However, and as you'd probably expect, there is no glitz or glamour to this musical and the songs and routines are pretty raw. Bjork is obviously a professional writer and singer and her songs are absolutely stunning but the rest of the cast have only had basic training and sing in a natural manner without their voices being tampered with in post-production. I've always loved the idea of the Dogme manifesto, a removal of all things false and artificial to enhance cinema and to give it more meaning. The thing is, cinema is magic. There is room for all kinds of style in story telling but a film has to have a certain kind of magic, isn't that why we love it? The film has been accused by many critics as being unrelenting with its manipulative sentimentality and while I agree with this to a point, I would say that you could say the same of most Hollywood films, although few of them match or better Dancer in the Dark and isn't that part of what film is anyway? You could say the same about It's A Wonderful Life and that is rightly recognized as an all-time classic. The big difference between the two films is in how the message is told. It's seems okay for James Stewart to jump off a bridge but somehow not okay for Bjork to refuse treatment for the sake of her son's health, yes Dancer of the Dark can be extremely bleak but then such is life, Von Trier also shows how wonderful and how beautiful life can be, often where you least expect to find it. This is what the director does best. He shows the positive in all the things we see as negative. His films share the same collective ideology of the viewers, he just shows things from a different perspective, again, isn't this what film is about? Maybe it is right that dancer in the Dark (as well as most of his films) are in the love or hate category, I'm sure he's very pleased by the fact but I'm not sure how anyone can say he isn't making valid and interesting statements. Personally I love his work, Dancer in the Dark in particular. I think it is faultless cinema. Most directors only make one or two masterpieces if they're lucky, Von Trier makes one after another.