Underplayed Gems

Dancer in the Dark (2000)

Dancer in the Dark poster
Directed by
Lars von Trier
Genre
drama film, musical film, trial film
Country
Argentina, Iceland, Germany, United Kingdom
Runtime
2h 20m
Rated
R
Rating
7.8 of 10 from 2,023 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
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How it feels

A factory worker with a degenerative eye condition is saving money for an operation to prevent her young son from going blind. As she struggles to keep her savings, a series of events lead her into a legal trial.

tragicemotionalintensemelancholicrawharrowingmovingunflinching

What happens

Dancer in the Dark is a 2000 psychological tragedy musical film written and directed by Lars von Trier. It stars Icelandic musician Björk as a factory worker who has a degenerative eye condition and is saving for an operation to prevent her young son from suffering the same fate. Catherine Deneuve, David Morse, Cara Seymour, Peter Stormare, Siobhan Fallon Hogan and Joel Grey also star. The soundtrack, Selmasongs, was written mainly by Björk, with contributions from Mark Bell and some lyrics were written by Trier and Sjón. Dancer in the Dark is the final installment in Trier's second trilogy, "Golden Heart", following Breaking the Waves (1996) and The Idiots (1998). It was an international co-production among companies based in thirteen European and North American countries and regions. Like the first installment, it was shot with a handheld camera inspired by Dogme 95. Dancer in the Dark premiered at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival and won the Palme d'Or, along with the Best Actress Award for Björk. It received generally positive reviews, with Björk's performance being widely praised. The song "I've Seen It All", performed and co-written by Björk, with Sjón and Trier, was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song, but lost to "Things Have Changed" by Bob Dylan from Wonder Boys. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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