Dancer in the Dark Film Review

As promised from my previous blog, I will write a film review of the film Dancer in the Dark by Lars von Trier. We were to write a formalist critical paper about it but since I don't know how to write that way (and the lectures about how to write that way is in the library and it's Sunday today), I will just write a preview before writing the formalist critical paper. I hope this will help. I need to finish all things as soon as possible.

Image from Dancer in the Dark Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:
Dancer_in_the_Dark_movie_poster.jpg

Dancer in the Dark stars Björk as Selma Ježková. At first I doubt if it was really her, but when I heard her sing, I was able to confirm that it was indeed her. And knowing that she's the lead actress of the said film got me more hooked into watching it. Björk is one of the musicians/singers I really like listening to. Her sound is different which makes me like her more. Anyway, she is a Czechoslovakian immigrant here with her son Gene Jezek portrayed by Vladica Kostic. Other casts include Catherine Deneuve as Kathy (or sometimes Cvalda [read as /ku-al-da/]) her best friend; David Morse as Bill the policeman; Cara Seymour as Linda (the wife of Bill); Peter Stormare as Jeff -- Selma's suitor; along other casts.

Selma is a single parent who works in a factory. She is suffering a degenerative disease in the eyes and she is saving up money because this disease of hers is hereditary and she wants to save her son Gene (which will be named Novy in the end) from suffering the same disease.

Selma during her rest days (or sometimes after work? I'm not sure.) rehearses for the musical "The Sound of Music" (this is actually the start of the scene where she is found tap dancing). Selma is a big fan of the hollywood musical and she idolizes Oldrich Novy (a famous tap dancer).

Selma likes to day dream a lot. One day, while at work, she listened intensely to the sounds of the factory. It became a music to her ear and they started dancing and singing. Selma works in the factory where they make the metal part of the sink, I think.

Bill helps Selma and Gene by allowing them to rent the trailer home (Wikipedia term) and by taking care of Gene while Selma is at work. One day Bill asked Selma if she can lend (or loan) him money because his wife Linda has been overspending and there's nothing left with his inheritance. Selma refused to and felt bad because he disclosed his secret and he got nothing. To be fair, Selma also disclosed her secret, that she is going blind and that she's been saving money to save her child, Gene from experiencing the same. Bill used this and took advantage of Selma.

One time, to be able to earn double the amount of her salary, Selma tried to work for the night shift. Her condition's getting worse and worse each day and she won't tell anyone about it. She practiced using the rail to get home and senses the rails using her feet so that she'll know if she's at home already. Sometimes she practices doing things while her eyes are shut so that she'll get used to the life of being blind.

Selma arrived one day at home, almost blind by then, and she was fired from her job because she broke the machine the other day, and then she received her last salary (the scene when she was fired from work made my tears fall). After that, when she was about to place the money in the tin can which she uses as her hiding place, she found that her savings were gone. This broke my heart as well even though I anticipated that scene coming already.

When she was about to report this to Bill, who as mentioned earlier is a police and who just lives in the house beside them, she found Linda there. She was furious for she was accusing them of having an affair. Selma was looking for Bill to report the incident of stealing that happened and Linda said that he had just arrived from the bank, counting all the savings he has. Selma knew from the previous conversation that Bill was running out of money and this made her suspect that it was he who stole the money.

Selma found Bill upstairs. The money was there. She talked with Bill and said she needs the money back. Bill won't give it back and assumed it was his money. Selma will still get the money from him. When she was about to leave, Bill pointed the gun to her saying he will shoot her. Selma said she doesn't see any gun as if mocking him. Bill came closer to her to make her feel the gun. They took the gun away from each other and Bill accidentally shot his self. Selma got hold of the gun while Bill got hold of the money. Selma was provoked to shoot Bill because he won't give back her money. He said that if she really wants the money back, she should kill him first. She shot him, missed some, but was able to hit some directly to his body. Although he has a lot of gunshots in the body and is very weak now, he still did not let go of the pouch which contains the money. Selma found the deposit box placed over the table and used it to beat the head of Bill brutally until he let go of the money. Selma was left there crying.

After that, Selma deposited the money to the hospital which will do the operation for Gene. Jeff helped her by giving her a ride. When they were in the woods already, Selma threw the evidences like the pouch where the money was placed and her cardigan splatted with blood.

When Selma came back Jeff asked if she will not attend rehearsals. Selma answered that she will attend. Selma, during her short stay in the rehearsals and with people looking suspiciously at them already (Jeff has no idea of what happened), felt the need to leave and find Gene for they haven't seen each other that day yet. Their director in the musical pushed that she stay and not leave just yet. The director called the police already the time they arrived at the rehearsal venue. It turned out the news of the killing spread that fast.

Selma was arrested while rehearsing (this part became vague for me because the movie hung. There seem to be a problem with the CD of the AV library). She was forced to rehearse although she has difficulty seeing by that time. She was arrested and the next scene was she was being tried in the court. She kept her promise not to spill what she and Bill talked about before because they said it's their secret (I forgot to mention at the start that Selma is manifesting some weird behavior. I think she has some mental disorder). Selma lied that she keeps/saves her money so that she can send it to her father somewhere. She did not want people to learn that she's been saving so that she can let her son undergo an eye operation. When they asked what her father's name is, she said it's Oldrich Novy. When Novy was called in the court, he denies any claims that he is Selma's father. While hearing the scratching of the pencils of some people who do the sketches in the court, Selma imagined they were doing a musical dance number again. After the musical number, the verdict was announced and she was found guilty with the penalty of death by hanging.

Selma was left with few days before here execution. Kathy would regularly visit her. Jeff would found out about Selma's plan for Gene to undergo the operation. They would use this so that Selma's case can be turned upside down. But Kathy would use the money which Selma deposited to the hospital where Gene's operation will be conducted. She will become hysterical and she would furiously demand that the money be used for Gene's operation and that he be called Novy afterwards.

Selma was shut in her cell where she is alone and she can't hear anything. This made her sad because sound helps her day dream and it frustrated her so hard that she can't hear anything. This scene was too painful too. The female prison guard who guards her happened to become her friend also because the prison guard knows that Selma is not a bad person. It touched my heart when they discussed them both having child/children. Selma told the prison guard to say to her child that she said hi. This touched the heart of the prison guard.

Another heartbreaking scene was when Jeff (the ever consistent but shy suitor) visited her. It broke my heart when Selma told Jeff to come to the day of her execution if he thinks it will be a lovely scene to see. Jeff cried really hard and I also found myself crying.

Selma did not want her to be seen by Gene. By this time, Gene was not shown anymore in any latter scenes in the film.

Selma's day of execution arrived. She was brought to another cell where she waited for the time to come. Food was served to her but she did not dare touch it. She was just there lying in bed as if counting with her hands moving in some unintelligible manner. When she was finally called to come, she cannot stand up. Her knees weakened because of the extreme fear she's feeling. Her prison guard friend helped her stand up by making loud footsteps (Selma experienced deafening silence for the past few days of her stay in prison). She sang again another song after hearing the prison guard's loud footsteps. She sang the final 107 step song to the fellow inmates (who according to Wikipedia are people to be executed also a.k.a. people at deathrow).


When the time came that she was about to be hung, she became hysterical again. She was about to be placed to a board where her movements will be controlled and she can be executed successfully but her female prison guard friend helped her not be place on that board. They covered  Selma with a black, thick cloth and she screamed, shouting for Gene's name. Although illegal, Kathy (Cvalda) went up to tell her that Gene was okay, that his operation was successful and there was nothing to worry about. The executioner phoned those in authority for the legality of what they will do (removing Selma's black cloth over her face). While waiting for the return call, Selma sang again yet another song. When the phone rang and the decision was approved, they pulled the lever and Selma was hung and sent to her death. Her song was cut and a phrase appeared in the screen saying  "They say it's the last song/They don't know us, you see/It's only the last song/If we let it be." (Dancer in the Dark, n.d.).

I found myself crying really hard because of this film. I did not expect it to be so heartbreaking, sorrowful and tragic. Although it made me feel that way, I really really liked the film, I strongly recommend that people (especially film enthusiasts) watch it.

Reference:

Dancer in the Dark (n.d.). Retrieved October 17, 2011 from the Dancer in the Dark Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dancer_in_the_Dark