Rating: 
Summary: "Dancer in the Dark" Review
Review: I was literally stunned when I saw "Dancer in the Dark". I came into seeing it with pretty high expectations, but I was blown away with how amazing the film was. Björk delivers a haunting performance as Selma, a woman with a hereditary blindness. The musical numbers are so original and bizzar yet brilliant at the same time. Björk's ability to deliver on screen made my jaw drop. She is truly a great actress, and a creative musicial with a voice unline anything I've ever heard. "Dancer in the Dark" was the best film of 2000, and I would reccommend it to anyone who has patience, and who appreciates independent films.
Rating: 
Summary: once in a lifetime
Review: While it maybe doesn't rank one of my favourites, I have to give this film some credit. It was one of the few films that a) _physically_ moved me, and b) I will never forget. This dark, provocative, and haunting story of innocense and injustice felt to me more like something that I had to view more so than I wanted to. It had the same sort of fear-to-watch-but-cannot-turn-away moroseness of Kafka. It is heavy, dense, and unsettling. It simply can't be called uplifting, but it managed to accomplish a lot; mainly, a feeling in me another movie has yet to bring up.
Rating: 
Summary: Love Bjork's Music, but this FILM is a DUD!
Review: Short and SWEET: We all love Bjork's music, but this failed movie/musical is very poor. Buy her music or especially her DVD "Volumen" of music videos..... but RENT this DVD just to satisfy your curiousity, but be warned, you will not be moved by this film (ACK!).
Rating:
Summary: My brother hates peas, but I love them!
Review: I have read everysingle review... 107 of them... some are harsh... some are amazingly cheery... but inorder to write a good review, you should tell about the pros and cons or make sure to say, that what you are stating is an opinion. I found that this movie, to my opinon, was wonderful. People complain that this isn't really a musical. Well, I have a comparison for you. Alexadre Nichita, the petite Picasso, paints the most amazing pictures, in my opinion. Yet, those pictures look as though a child could do them. So are they art? Better yet, should they sale for over 200,000 dollars a piece, per picture? With prices even higher for some of her work? It is art to the person who thinks that it is art. For Dancer in the Dark, I recommend you experience the film yourself, if you are reading this, it means that most likely, there is a Blockbuster within 50 miles of you. Rent the movie. Do not rely on someone else's opinion. You wouldn't buy a painting that you had not seen, because some one said they liked it. People have different views. Just because a person dislikes the movie does not mean that the movie was a flop, they just don't get the same connection that you might get from the movie or any movie for that fact. I loved this movie and I don't expect you to spend 20 dollars on my advice, so seriously, if you are thinking of buying Dancer in the Dark, rent it and then buy it... otherwise trust me and buy it. But it all boils down to this... when I was little my brother told me that he thought peas were disgusting, so not wanting to taste something nasty, I went along my life on his opinion, and when I finally turned 15, I tried peas for the first time, and I LOVE THEM... Do not rely on another's opinion, if you like something then like it... if not that is fine, too. But I am tired of hearing one-sided opinions and people who trust those one-sided opinions.
Rating: 
Summary: When Directors Attack
Review: I think it's safe to call this one a disaster, though the musical sequences nearly save it: Bjork is a great performer, and Von Trier has more fun with artifice than he'd ever admit to his cinegeek minions.Unfortunately, the "book scenes" are predictable and manipulative--and Bjork is really difficult to watch when she plays the character, particularly in the intense moments. Von Trier pushes her straight past method acting and headlong into what can only be called "snuff".
Rating:
Summary: stellar
Review: When I went to see this movie, I had no idea that it was a musical. You'd think the fact that Bjork was in it would tip me off, but I assumed she was leaving her music for background. The fact that this movie turned out to be a musical delighted me to no end, as I am a big fan of the genre. But this movie took it beyond that. Bjork is a wonderful actress, who made this story very much her own. It's simply to exquisite for words. You owe it to yourself to see this movie!
Rating:
Summary: No "Pennies from Heaven"
Review: Dancer in the Dark is basically the same idea as Dennis Potter's "Pennies from Heaven". Take a dismal, depressing, tragic life and add musical numbers to it. See the BBC TV version (with Bob Hoskins) and not the Steve Martin movie to get the real feel for what Dennis Potter was trying to do. Also see the BBC drama "The Singing Dectective" that uses the same musical device (Dennis Potter also wrote this). For an added touch, the director/writer ripped off a major subplot from the classic silent film "Greed" which was based on a novel by Frank Norris called "McTeague" (a great film and a better book). The whole subplot about Selma hoarding her money and having someone close to her steal it is an obvious reference to the book/film. In the case of the book/film, the money was from the winnings of a lottery that the wife of McTeague hoarded and refused to give up any of it even though McTeague needed it to survive. He eventually kills her for the money, and has a final onfrontation with a rival (who also wants the money) in Death Valley. The film and book had an obvious theme of the evils of capitalism, and how it tears people apart. The film technique for Dancer in the Dark was terrible (all hand held camera work and lously dancing). This Dogma technique is all fine and well for documentaries, but not for a fictional film. The film reminded me of a Soviet revolutionary musical, or one of the Communist Chinese propaganda musicals in terms of technique and rhetoric. I call it just another case of "Socialist Realism", but with bad camera work. The only saving grace to this dismal, rip-off film is Bjork who turns out an incredible performance and sings like a siren. I think she has great potential as an actress, but obviously her experience with this film turned her off forever to other acting roles. At least she's still composing remarkable music. Out of musicians I've seen acting in films, I think Bjork gave the strongest performance of a musician in a film that I've ever seen, except maybe David Bowie, who sadly doesn't appear in films anymore. Like her music, her emotions on screen are raw and exposed, and even sometimes painful to watch. Overall (except for Bjork) this is one of the worst major releases I've ever seen in terms of direction, and camera work. It looks like the Dogma method is like the Punk rock movement in the 1970's; a reaction to a bloated and shallow art form that had to return back to basics. There may be some other director out there who will take this technique and make a breakthrough film, but this remains to be seen. On a final note, what was the theme and resolution of this film about? Why did Selma protect the man she murdered to only face being put to death? She had a young son to take care of, and gave up on him. It didn't make much sense to me and left me frustrated and empty. Was the fact that she was going blind make her give up the will to live? Did she in fact committ suicide by proxy? Or is this the case of the tendency in a lot of European films to be existential, with no easy way out of life's problems.
Rating:
Summary: A shockingly beautiful, yet strange film
Review: Bjork should have gotten best actress over Julia Roberts, hands down. Anyone who sees this film should agree. It's a poignant, almost documentary like film, about a factory worker who is going blind. To escape the problems of life, she tends to daydream. Fascinated with musicals, the main character often drifts into dreaming that her life is a miracle. This is the only fault of the movie, I think. You can barely understand Bjork when she goes off into these fortunately very limited musical segments. However strange these moments might be, they are easily sideswiped by the rest of the movie and its drama. It's touches deep into the corners of your heart. Beautiful and enchantingly haunting are almost the best words to describe it. Keep an open mind when you watch it due to those weird musical segments, but it's soo worth it. It's about time someone made a movie that was meant to motivate your emotions rather than stifle them. (PS: I am not a Bjork fan in the least so to have me saying she deserved best actress is actually astounding.)
Rating:
Summary: Bjork's Gives Good Game
Review: Bjork gives a very solid performance in her film debut despite her odd British Cockney Norwegian accent portraying a Czech immigrant. You will have to suspend belief in other ways since there are numerous fantasy sequences where the participants break out in song and dance and the plot does stray from a conventional storyline which you could call challenging but is also confusing and unbelievable. If your a Bjork Fan you will probably like the movie better.
Rating:
Summary: Intense.
Review: This is one of those movies that will take you by suprize and hit you hard. It's tough to watch, but it is impossible to see the entire thing and feel nothing. It will affect you in one way or another. The beauty of the songs, the musical scenes, and selma will be enough to make you feel like a better, changed person. Go see it...it is bee-yoo-tee-ful!
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