Dancer in the Dark

I can't help it, but at the end of the film Lars von Trier tries to wring tears out of the audience at any cost, proving his famous cynicism, which works reliably in many of his films, but not here. He could have spared us the moment at the end when Björk cries hysterically as the hood is pulled over her head. It was cheap and gratuitous, and that's when von Trier's went too far. The three stars go mainly for the music and the great performances, especially David Morse and Björk, who literally lives her role. (27.05.2002)

Yeah, by the end Lars is pushing things too hard, but it still worked on me. A terribly depressive mockery of the poor viewer. Only one little thing bothered me: that Lars did not look after a couple of details arising form the fact that the protagonist, Selma (!) is from Czechoslovakia. But who cares, Dancer in the Dark hit me emotionally and I spent a lot of time watching the musical set pieces. PS: “I’ve Seen It All” is a great song! (23.01.2011)

Ich gebe zu, allein die tschechoslowakischen Pseudorealitäten haben mich fast umgebracht, weil es so einfach nicht geht. All diese Selma Ježkovás und fiktiven Musicaldarsteller (!) wie "Oldřich Nový"... Das war sehr tragisch und machte den Film hierzulande völlig inakzeptabel. Andererseits, selbst wenn das Ganze nur als Musikvideo für "I've seen it all" existieren würde, würde es völlig ausreichen, um Björk unsterblich zu machen. Leider handelt es sich insgesamt um ein sehr problematisches linkes Musical, das bei weitem nicht von Buñuels Liebling Catherine Deneuve gerettet wird, die in ihrer Arbeitshose einfach lächerlich aussieht. (26.09.2014)

No, Lars von Trier is not my cup of tea and his films just don't appeal to me that much. At least not all of them. And the movie "Dancer in the Dark" is one of those films that didn't really resonate with me. The musical numbers were surprisingly good, but the story just seemed quite simple and only amplified by that stylization. (06.04.2016)

Dancer in the Dark is an exceptional film. To use a musical as a metaphor and merge it with a theme like this – that's just genius! This time I have to mention the fact that Lars von Trier's films, compared to most other productions, are a real emotional and intense experience for me, which quite often lingers in me for days (which happens very rarely indeed.)) As in Breaking the Waves, the main character here is a suffering woman whose moral values and sense of "the right thing" clash with the injustice and disproportionate cruelty (especially psychological) of ordinary people. Lars von Trier certainly doesn't put these types of characters in his films for the sake of it; on the contrary, through the clash of their pure characters with "the evil world" he holds up a mirror to us and forces the ordinary person to reflect on his values – on the other hand, it is sad that we need to first "experience" the suffering and the evil committed in a naturalistic way in the film in order to force ourselves to reflect on it (but sometimes even that doesn't help, unfortunately. )) Even though Dancer in the Dark is not a film about nice things, it is still beautiful and unique in its own way – at least in how much emotion it contains and how credibly it can portray human morality and human suffering. The musical interludes, in which Björk excels vocally and expressively, are a damn fine icing on an already well made (though probably quite hard to digest for some) cake. It's true that the director is quite relentless in his attacks on the viewer's feelings, and it's also quite likely that if you internally go through the whole crazy whirlwind with the main character, you'll probably feel like a fly in a spider's web at the end. However, as controversial and provocative as Dancer in the Dark is, it's still a hugely engaging, masterfully directed work whose meaning or mission is huge. (23.05.2010)