I was annoyed from minute one of Dancer in the Dark. The visuals are total garbage, as though they were shot with a VHS camera in the 1980s. Even when things like this are done with some justifiable intent, it irritates me. Not only that, but the picture moved so much that I thought I might need motion-sickness pills. This handheld camerawork always bothers me, and I hate when the film is moving even in static shots when people are sitting down. It takes me out of the movie and reminds me that some guy with the shakes is holding a camera pointing at actors, rather than allowing me to get lost in the story. Then there's the music. I assure you, I'm a sucker for a good musical, and I wish this was one. I simply don't like Björk's sound, and therefore the musical numbers that take place in her fantasy sequences are horribly limited in their impact because of the strange breathy etherealness of her singing. She was so awkward that I could not figure out why anyone would give her a lead role in a musical, even one for a rinky-dink community theater company.
That being said at some point the film-making and bad singing started to fade away, and I was getting unexpectedly invested in the plot. Björk plays such a lovable and innocent character, that you want to see her succeed, and cringe when anything bad happens to her. In fact, because horrible things do start to happen, I found Dancer in the Dark to be a rare experience. This movie goes on the short list of films that I found emotionally powerful and utterly compelling, but that I never want to watch again. There is a cathartic quality in a movie that can elicit a good cry out of me, but these weren't refreshing tears. I was angry and upset with the events of this movie, it took me to dark places that I don't enjoy. Yet that kind of powerful emotional experience assured me that the movie did a great job of telling its story despite the flaws that I found in the presentation. Dancer in the Dark is not a fun movie, and it's not something I could see myself recommending to most people, but it is a great story that sucks you in, and therefore I don't regret watching it at all.
That being said at some point the film-making and bad singing started to fade away, and I was getting unexpectedly invested in the plot. Björk plays such a lovable and innocent character, that you want to see her succeed, and cringe when anything bad happens to her. In fact, because horrible things do start to happen, I found Dancer in the Dark to be a rare experience. This movie goes on the short list of films that I found emotionally powerful and utterly compelling, but that I never want to watch again. There is a cathartic quality in a movie that can elicit a good cry out of me, but these weren't refreshing tears. I was angry and upset with the events of this movie, it took me to dark places that I don't enjoy. Yet that kind of powerful emotional experience assured me that the movie did a great job of telling its story despite the flaws that I found in the presentation. Dancer in the Dark is not a fun movie, and it's not something I could see myself recommending to most people, but it is a great story that sucks you in, and therefore I don't regret watching it at all.