Danish director Lars von Trier has always been a controversial director of sorts, the subject matter of many of his films have been the topic of much debate. The reviews of his films are always incredibly varied as his films polarize critics and Dancer in the Dark. which was released in 2000, was no different. My favourite quote came from Jonathan Foreman at the New York Times, who sums up everything I would like to say in one sentence, "(a film) so unrelenting in its manipulative sentimentality that, if it had been made by an American and shot in a more conventional manner, it would be seen as a bad joke."
The Icelandic singer Bjork played the lead role of Selma, a role which won her the Best Actress Award at the Cannes Film Festival and a nomination for Best Actress at the Golden Globes. I'm truly stunned because her acting was some of the worst I've seen since I started this blog, rarely has a performance drawn a character so forgettable and unrealistic.
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| Selma (Bjork) and Kathy (Catherine Deneuve) |
The common theme surrounding von Trier's work is that many claim he is sexist and a misogynist. These claims weren't helped when Bjork argued with von Trier about the ending of the movie and claimed he was sexist. She did claim that she wasn't interested in acting but made an exception for von Trier. The plot itself is thinly stretched over the prolonged running time with the interwoven dancing and singing sequences which should provide light relief become long drawn out stretches of utter tedium. Whilst the ending is an exercise in how much over the top emotion you can try to force from a scene that you don't really care about to begin with.
0.5/4 Manipulative, poorly acted and bizarre camerawork add to an immense disappointment
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