|
Actors: Bjork, Catherine Deneuve
|
|
| Review Summary and Plot Commentary about Dancer in the Dark |
|---|
DANCER IN THE DARK is a movie written and directed by Lars Von Trier in 2000. The director won the Golden Palm at the Cannes Film Festival.
1964. Björk and Catherine Deneuve, both Czescholovakian immigrants, work hard in a factory lost in the american Midwest. Björk works on a double-shift basis because she has only one idea in mind, to earn the money needed for the eye operation of his son suffering from a rare family illness. She will have to murder "by pity" her neighbour David Morse who tried to steal her money and face the death penalty.
Recommended. In my opinion, the best movie of the year 2000.
--Daniel Staebler, Resident Scholar
|
Set in the mid-twentieth century, "Dancer in the Dark", is a study in small town politics, universal human selfishness, and the agonizing symbiotic relationship between mother and son. And it's a musical! This element is a fascinating contrast to the dismal human dilemmas director Lars Von Triers presents. Bjork is "Selma", a Chekoslovocian factory worker who gives up her best friend, her lover, and eventually her life, in order to provide her son with the surgery to restore his sight. There are technicolor musical interludes based on Hollywood classics: Bjork in other-worldly faerie mode, her imagined self. This film isn't perfect, but its a study in perception vs. reality that should provide university film seminars with ample material for years to come.
--Johnny D., Resident Scholar
|
| Analysis of Dancer in the Dark |
|---|
Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about
books by breaking them down into many different literary
elements, all of which are searchable (click here). |
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Time/era of movie:
- 1960's-1970's
Family, caring for sick?
Yes
Who is sick?
- Son
because he/she is
- physically ill
Family, loving
Yes
Special relationship with
- son
Ethnic/Regional/Gender story?
Yes
Main Char. ethnic: (if not US Caucasian)
- Eastern European
Woman/class/friends story?
- story of lower class
- immigrant story
Story of city/rural life?
- Small Town
Culture of surrounding area:
- American Midwest
Main Character
Identity:
- Female
Profession/status:
- blue collar
Age:
- 20's-30's
Eccentric:
Yes
- obsessed
Hair color?
- brunette (Brown)
Hair type
- (woman) medium/shoulderlgn straight
Events of movie makes character more...
- sad
Ethnicity/Nationality
- Eastern European
How sensitive is this character?
- sensitive to others' feelings
- middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor?
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
Physique
- average physique
- physically sick
Secondary Main Character
Identity:
- Female
Hair color
- blonde
Hair style
- (woman) medium/shoulderlgn straight
How much in movie?
- 60%
Ethnicity/Nationality
- Eastern European
Main Adversary
Identity:
- Male
Age:
- 40's-50's
Profession/status:
- police/lawman
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- 20%
Hair color
- blonde
Hair type
- (man) short/standard straight
Body type
- (man) average
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
How sensitive is this character?
- soggy whimpering jelly muffin
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
Physique
- average physique
Setting
United States
Yes
The US:
- Midwest
Forest?
Yes
Misc setting
- prison
- moving train
- theater
Style
Accounts of torture and death?
- moderately detailed references to deaths
- explicit references to deaths
Movie makes you feel...
- depressed/sad
Non-American film?
Yes
What language?
- English
Any profanity?
- Occasional swearing
If lots of song/dance...
- lot of singing
- lot of singing and dancing
If soundtrack VERY NOTICEABLE...
- Modern rock/pop
- Broadway musical
|
| Most similar reviews by Gordonator ranking |
|---|
| Mr. Holland's Opus
starring Richard Dreyfuss, Jay Thomas
|
| Terms of Endearment
starring Shirley Maclaine, Debra Winger, Jack Nicholson, Danny DeVito, Jeff Daniels, John Lithgow
|
| Ordet (1955)
starring Henrik Malberg, Preben Lerdorff Rye, Ejner Federspiel, Birgitte Federspiel
|
| Life as a House
starring Kevin Klein, Hayden Christensen, Kristen Scott Thomas, Jena Malone, Mary Steenburgen, Scott Bakula
|
| My Favorite Season
starring Catherine Deneuve, Daniel Auteuil, Marthe Villalonga, Chiara Mastroianni, Ingrid Caven, Carmen Chaplin, Jean-Pierre Bouvier
|
|
Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
|
