Rating: 
Summary: Stop shaking the camera!!
Review: The main character in 'Dancer in the Dark' has got some PROBLEMS. No doubt, there plenty of people with some serious mental disoders, but this woman has some of the worst I've seen. Imagine brutally killing a man with an gun and suitcase. Most people, except maybe serial killers, would be wildly shaken by the act, but this woman goes on as though nothing has changed. She is basically a daydreamer who lives in her musicial words not caring for the outside world.
The story is set in the 1960s. There is a reason for this, but it hangs on by a thread. She works in a factory where she gets bored quickly. She imagines she is in a musicial where everyone in the factory is singing along. That had to be one of the strangest sequences I've ever seen in any film. Strange because it showed just how WITHDRAWN this chick is. The other problem of the 'Dancer in the Dark' is the director. This man feels he must shake the camera ALL the time. Not just in certain moments, but ALL the time FOR GOD'S SAKES!! I found myself yelling at the screen, "Stop SHAKING that camera!! I'm getting VERY dizzy!!" At least Oliver Stone knows his limits.
Another REALLY BIZZARE sequence occurrs at the end of the film. Imagine if you're ready to excuted. The last thing on your mind is some musical. Not this girl. She imagines she is singing with the other prisoners. Then at the end she is hanged. Take that you nutcase girl. I felt no sympathy for you and your songs. 'Dancer in the Dark' is a lie. Just because the camera shakes all the time does not make it art.
Rating: 
Summary: Less than Sum of its Parts
Review: Like most reviewers, I have to say that I think Bjork's performance as Selma is absolutely stunning. It's a doubly make-it-or-break-it role: an actress could only either stumble or excel in the role, AND the effectiveness of the portrayal of the role could potentially make or break the entire movie. In this case, Bjork doubtlessly excels and, as I believe, saves the movie to some extent.The first 10 or 20 minutes of the movie, as some reviewers have said, is quite hard to take because of the unorthodox style of filming and the need to take in the background of the characters and all. But from that point on till the second third of the movie, things really take off. Emotions are strong and the musical scenes (especially the one with the lumberjacks) are sparkling. But then I think things go downhill after the scene where Selma confronts her neighbor, Bill. It's because the plot is simply just TOO contrived. I have nothing against contrivances in general. But given the nature of the story and the way it's presented, I just couldn't swallow the contrivances. Were the story told in the form of a musical (I mean the kind of Broadway musicals where the audience expects everything to be exaggerated) or accompanied with a surreal setting, I would not have as much problem with the unbelievable plot development. But from the start till finish, the movie was filmed with handheld cameras which has given so much feel of realism to the story, and Bjork's (and I would also say Catherine Deneuve's) touching, genuine acting simply doesn't go well with the surprisingly artificial plot. Way before the end of the movie, I already couldn't help feeling manipulated and thus couldn't emotionally get involved in the story again. From the incompetence of the defense lawyer to the lack of professionalism of the prison guard, it seems that every detail and every plot twist of the last third of the movie are there to merely emotionally stimulate the audience. To me, as said, it totally goes against the expectation of realism given by the acting and the way the movie is presented. Overall, the movie as a whole is inconsistent in tone and could have been a wreck without Bjork's superb performance. Given the delightful acting and some remarkable sequences, the sum of the individual parts is easily better than the movie itself.
Rating: 
Summary: Too negative movie!
Review: This movie stinks... From the beginning to the end, all is too fatalistic and negative. I ended up stressed when the money came to its end and all I can say is that it was one of the worst movies I have ever seen.
Rating:
Summary: Just too painful to watch.
Review: This is the same filmaker who did "Breaking The Waves". I do not deny his talents, which are a lot, but why does he have to make such heartbreaking unbearably sad stories. It is an almost masoquistic thing to watch this whole movie. When watching it I was begging for a breath of fresh air, but it only came when Bjork started to "daydream". Too much pain, too cruel a story, maybe that is why it works as a film, but I have not the stomach to continue watching this guy's films.
PS: if you liked this film, watch "Breaking The Waves", another terrible/beautiful journey. Thanks for reading.
Rating: 
Summary: When you build a heaven inside you, hellfire has no fury.
Review: I don't think of myself as the type of person who cries at movies. It takes a lot more than a sweet sentiment to tweak my emotions. I wouldn't say that I'm hard. I would say that I'm discriminating. I like material that doesn't simply entertain. I like movies that go a little deeper, and remind me of what it is to be human. One such movie is Dancer in the Dark, staring Bjork. If you are the kind of person who thinks that heaven is a perfect place where nothing bad ever happens, where innocence prevails and pain has no place, you will very likely hate this movie. If, on the other hand, you realize that suffering defines happiness, you may never forget it. I cried watching this movie. I cried my eyes out, and I am proud to admit it. The tragic ending was a triumphant masterpiece of humanity. It was the ultimate achievement. It brought my philosophy to life in vivid, human, blood-stained color. This is not a movie for the faint of heart. It is a movie about the heart of the human condition. Triumph in the face of suffering. It was the most incredible contrast of joy and pain I have ever seen in an artistic work. It will either renew your faith in humanity, or crush it. The truest and best works of art are like mirrors. They will reflect your own nature. Your reaction to them will say more about you than the art in question. This movie is such a work.
Rating:
Summary: lucky he had bjork - 5 stars for her, 0 for the plot
Review: I hated this film, mostly because it made Bjork cry, real Bjork-tears, and it seems to me to be such a waste or something that she poured so much of her heart into that role in what was essentially a silly movie with several extremely flimsy plot constructions, and carried it off with such incongruous beauty when it was all I couldn't quite do to ignore the stupid plot and the wierdass Bollywood musical sequences. The final scenemade me feel ill... At the end I was torn between snapping the movie disc in half and storming out of the house or just sitting on my brown couch in a state of shock. The couch won, dammit.
Rating:
Summary: the most impacting movie of my viewing journey
Review: I remember slowly allowing myself to rent this from Blockbluster, only because it was the only place i could find to rent it. A friend in Canada had recommended me to view it, stating it was her all-time favorite films and finally i did. I watched it with my parents. I cried my heart out. Even if you are not a fan of Bjork, this movie will rock you. The film, the score, the acting... i have not spoken with any decent film watcher who has not found this movie as one of the most moving. Even if you're not in the mood for a film, get this one right now!
Rating:
Summary: Rediculous doesnt even begin to explain this film
Review: I know why Bjork has decided to stop making movies. Somehow she got stuck in this laughable film that is just so dumb at times I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I liked a few of the songs, and Bjork's angelic beauty and charm sucked me in. It's easy to feel empathy for her and her son. Her world is interesting and it's nice to visit in her dream like theatre productions of her imagination that cause things to go wrong in the real world. Where does this film go bad? 1)Camera work is horrible. It movies and is never in frame of the characters heads or body. It's always off and you fee like it's a home movie of strangers. 2)The songs get boring after the first few. 3)The story get's rediculous when theirs a trial. And for some strange reason Bjork will not explain why she was saving money? Why is that so wrong? She could have told them without any consequences. It was just dumb that she allowed herself to be found guilty. They also let her testify against herself, Where was her lawyer? That was just dumb and implausible. 4)It DRRRAAGGGEEED on for so long...just before it was done another song came up. Until you just want it to end already. They also get rediculous when she starts singing at her trial and at the inevitable ending. It just doesn't make sense. 5)At times the film is sad, as when Bjork is forced to do the unbelievable. But the rest of the film makes it all feel like a joke. The trial stuff should never had happened, and a potentially interesting musical with a good actress was ruined by practically everything else. Rent it first, I'm glad I did. PS I love musicals, and fantasy weird films. You're better off watching Moulin Rouge, Everyone Says I love you, and for a touch of weird Mulholland Drive.
Rating:
Summary: Didn't move me
Review: I have a heart. Really. But this movie somehow wasn't able to affect me emotionally. Why? Because the extremes of sadness and tragedy, to put it mildly, strained the limits of plausability. I couldn't understand why the characacters did what they did, but somehow they always did the worst possible thing they could. Maybe the problem I have with this movie is that everything is pure fate. All the characters are so weak that they become railroaded by circumstances. The Greeks were never this tragic. In their dramas, tragedy is always the result of trying to defy the will of the Gods. In this movie the characters have a hard time walking into a gentle breeze. The message of this movie is "life [disappoints], and here's why. Oh yeah, and the death penalty's bad." The only escape is in fantasies and dreams, and it makes you think that if you have any notion that life is good or can be good, then you're living a delusion. I usually, when people ask me about a movie, try to keep the people who wouldn't like the movie away from it, and find those who would enjoy it and encourage them to go it (that's the purpose of a critic, not to just bash the movies he hates and laude the movies he loves). But I just couldn't tell anyone anything but, "don't go to this movie. Please, stay away."
Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: I have watched lots of films for last couple of years, but Dancer in the Dark is the only movie which has effected me so strongly. After having it watched, the whole day I was still thinking about the film. It is a slow motion film not for everyone who likes action films but the feelings it arose in someone who watches is incredible. You feel with Bjork while watching the film. Very good performance of every starring actors and actress'. I think, it is a film which must be seen.
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