Rating: 
Summary: The Best Film of 2000
Review: "Dancer in the Dark" is a fantastic motion picture experience. It's not only the best film of 2000, but also one of the greatest films ever made. Bjork is miraculous, and the whole cast delivers. The music, especially the Oscar-nominated "I've Seen It All," is spectacular. See it!
Rating: 
Summary: When good films go bad
Review: Lars von Trier filmed 'Dancer in the Dark' in the intriguing tradition of the Dogma School - a group of young, mostly European filmmakers intensely commited to realism. The distinctive style they achieve relies heavily on two techniques: firstly, the Dogma directors emphasize stripped-down cinematography (hand-held cameras, natural or unembellished lighting); secondly, Trier and his colleagues encourage their actors towards highly understated dialogue, heavy on improvisation. The result is remarkable, and 'Dancer in the Dark' remains a fine example of Dogma filmmaking. I write this to illustrate that my beef with 'Dancer' does not stem from Trier's sense of style or format (many other negative reviewers have complained about the film's cinematography and jumbled speech).Nor am I bothered by Bjork's musical intergections. The surrealist song and dance vingettes take a moment to adjust to, and though not all of them work, even the lousiests sequences are bold and at least a little clever. Selma's funky daydreaming forms the heart and soul of 'Dancer,' and the stylistic contrast between the song and non-song episodes is jarring and inspired. All told, I think 'Dancer in the Dark' is well concieved and follows a highly unique formula for which Trier and his talented cast deserve much praise. There is, however, more to a great or even good movie than high-concept, no matter how high or how clever, or even how beautiful. 'Dancer in the Dark' shoots itself in the foot with a very high caliber weapon very near the aproximate point in the film when all should have been drawn to a close. There is a very well-rendered story which unfolds for just short of the initial 2 hours, full of extreme human interest and emotional tension. Will Selma be taken advantage of? Will she go completely blind? Will she find her way home every day without being flattened by a freight train? One waits in agony for her to have her arms crushed in a press or at least drop her (useless) glasses into a machine. Her financial crusade is naive and sweet. Selma's daily life is rich and, though full of color, believable. Why Lars von Trier felt the need to truncate this energy by resorting to a maddeningly predictable, tediously linear final third is the real intruige of 'Dancer in the Dark'. The film is absoultely derailed by a sensational plot device I would contend, in contradiction to my fellow reviewers, is anything but fresh and naturalistic. The microscope we view Selma under for so long is taken away, and Trier whisks us through time lapses and strung-together episodes culminating in a melodramatic finale sequence which comes as no surprise at all. Selma's fate, barreling down the road, highbeams on, is a dramatic turkey, gratuitous, self-absorbed, predictable. Why does 'Dancer' hara-kiri itself? Why didn't someone at Trier's side suggest, after, say, the arrest scene - "hey Lars, this is kind of nice what we've got here. How bout we not over-indulge?" And why does no one else seem to care?
Rating: 
Summary: A grate movie
Review: This movie did have a lot of corky points. But Bjork is corkey and I like her CDs and her in general mainly because of her corkeyness. And since she was in this movie I wanted to get it and I was plesintly suprised i suggest that you rent this movie. This is a must see.
Rating:
Summary: A profound venture into the sweet, gothic horrors of America
Review: This is a deeply troubling film, a film which views America through a gothic and European lens, showing the downhome madness of American life. A Czech immigrant works 'round the clock to make money for her child's medical costs--a fact which becomes quietly barbaric as the film grows (European nations pay for health care). Meanwhile, a sweet couple who live next door are trapped in a cycle of consumerism; like addicts, they tremble and panic without a steady source of their drug. These decidely American narratives collide and ultimately lead us to the ultimate American obscenity: capital punishment. Some will struggle with the film's long (and tedious) musicals. Thankfully, the fast-forward button cures these moments, and neatly edits the film. But the acting is simply tremendous: each actor gives the precise ingredient needed--every character has moral virtues, and there are no real "bad guys," yet evil pours onto the screen! Sweet and tender, while horrifying and awe-inspiring, "Dancer in the Dark" is an unlikely venture into the everyday terrors of American society. It is a trip everyone should take.
Rating:
Summary: Russian Novel * American Musical * Dead Film Editor
Review: This is the kind of movie that you'll feel you should like but you wont. Why? Because the story and the acting are excellent. They both have a very "authentic" feel, but the pacing of the movie is slow and jerky. The movie plot itself moves at a decent pace but the individual scenes felt like they needed an editor. But what's worse is that you can't get into that flow of the movie because the "musical" scenes come in at such a different pace it's jarring. Then there's the touching main character. Selma is your "die on the cross to help her child" kind of mother, but one who makes choices in the movie that are so stupid it give the movie a fake feeling. Anyway, my wife and I cried at the end, because it really is a good story.
Rating:
Summary: This film made me speechless...
Review: When I rented this movie I really had no idea what to expect. I had heard all sorts of things about its style and how Bjork said she'd never do another movie after this one, so I figured there must be something to it. I was not disappointed. First off, this film is a musical. A very modern day musical. Lars von Trier was able to shoot the musical pieces using 100 digital video cameras placed around the set at one time. This is mind boggling. His idea was to do the number once and just capture it that way, but it didn't work out to well and they had to do mulitple takes. But just appreciating the idea behind this portion of the film must spark your interest for the dramatic portions of it. Bjork is amazing. I would like to see her do more films, but I know it probably won't happen, sadly enough. Please do yourself a favor and just check this film out, you might love it or hate it, but it deserves to be seen.
Rating:
Summary: The Best Movie I've Ever Seen.
Review: Yes, some people may not like this movie for it's jerky camera movemens, slow beginning, and strange musical outbursts, but those are only what the shallow people would say. With this incridible movie, you must give it your full attention, as if you were listening to one of Bjork's CD's. And, if you didn't cry at the end of this movie, you definetly need to check your pulse. Bjork not only played the part of Selma--she became Selma, and that's what astounds me. She put her heart and soul into becoming this character, and it shined throughout the movie. This movie was more than a mother giving all she has to save her son--it was a trip in the mind of a person with a heart of gold. I highly, highly recommend this movie. You will never see anything like it again--I can promise you that.
Rating:
Summary: The best film of 2000
Review: 2000 was a very dull year for film but "Dancer In The Dark" made it worth it. First let me start by saying two things to prove that this won't be a biased review; 1.I hate most musicals(I can stand a few like "Cabaret") 2.I like Bjork but I'm not a big fan. I don't want to touch too much on the plot because I had no clue what the film was about when I went to see it and I'm glad I did. The themes in the film are many, touching on everything from single mothering and the death penalty. The style of the film overall reminds me of Bertolt Brecht's plays. Most of the characters are very alienated and the singing and dancing are always upbeat on a dismal subject and aren't sung to sound pretty and clear. The last number in the film with in context of what was going on is the most Brechtian scene I've seen outside Brecht and Churchill's Mad Forest play. The story is very tragic but I wasn't crying at the end. It's the same technique Brecht was trying to use in his plays. The film doesn't indulge in being too avant garde and arty, it keeps a perfect balance of creativity and straight forwardness. I won't say too much more because I want you to fully experience this film without knowing too much. My choice for best film of 2000.
Rating:
Summary: Moving film.
Review: This is one of the best movies that I have ever seen! Bjork gives a wonderful performance, as does Catherine Deneuve and David Morse. Heartbreaking tale of a mother's love for her son. The musical sequences were great! I loved it. Everyone should see this film.
Rating: 
Summary: actually three and a half, but that's not an option
Review: Musicals often irritate me. I'm not sure why, but I have a difficult time suspending my disbelief and accepting the random singing and dancing--I know it's not meant to be realistic, but I can't even consider it fantastic. That said, the musical interludes in this film make the movie. Without them the movie is nothing more than your average--though well-performed--parent sacrificing for their child story, reminiscent of some Law and Order episodes I've seen. Von Trier's visual style would still carry the movie to viewability, but there really wouldn't be anything worth remembering. The acting, as I said, is quite remarkable, especially Bjork's and Morse's performances. The characters are believable and developed--Bjork the seemingly frigid and controlling mother who is, at heart, always thinking about her child--what's best for him, etc and Morse the once rich, now poor man who can't deal with his sudden debt, and is afraid that those close to him won't accept it either. The editing and directing are good--it's refreshing to see a filmmaker not only shy away from many film conventions, but openly disregard them (namely, von trier enjoys employing jump cuts, quick shot scale changes, abandons the rule of thirds quite frequently and offers skaking hand held cameras over pedastaled still ones). furthermore, he doesn't block or script the actor's movements (hence, the hand held cameras), which allows the performances to appear more natural and fluid than most hollywood productions. the cinematography is fine, and sets are built with precision. but without the musical interludes, Dancer In the Dark doesn't offer anything new (except von trier's directing--which of course is not new anymore, inasmuch as this is not his first movie). That is to say, you've seen all of this before. you know the characters, are familiar with the plot and will probably know how the movie's going to develop and eventually end within the first half hour. still the movie is made memorable by selma's musical fantasies. first off, neither the lyrics nor the music match traditional musical films. bjork's tunes are poppy, and von trier's lyrics are downright nerve-chilling. not only that, but the musical fantasies aren't forced as in some other films--they come only when they belong, only when they can further the story and/or the character. two or three of them should cause uncomfortable moments for the viewer, at least one should promote rivers of tears. finally, the style with which the musical bits are filmed is so original and compelling that the movie becomes something terribly important. the dvd includes a documentary on this style, so i won't ruin it for those of you that wish to buy or rent it. let me just say that through von trier's innovation the musical moments were filmed only once. as for the dvd: it's definitely a good buy. the commentary is adequete, the documentaries informative, picture and sound quality both good. as a final note, stellan skarsgaard appears in an unbilled cameo.
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