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Author Topic: Dancer in the Dark  (Read 3878 times)

oldkid

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Dancer in the Dark
« on: September 06, 2012, 11:09:21 AM »
This movie stunned me.  Von Trier can sometimes come up from behind and bash you behind the ear-- and I often thank him for the privilege. 

This film is tied with Joan of Arc to be my favorite filmed passion.  Joan has got the emotional weight, but this film is so completely modern and believable.  Obviously, Selma is a Christ figure, but she may be my favorite, tied with the character in Ordet.  It's a couple days later and I am stunned by this film.

The soundtrack was an excellent companion to the film.  The songs are sometimes rambling, with the bare hint of a melody.  But that goes well with Selma's seeming passiveness.  Of course, she is not passive, she is driven, and she doesn't allow anything to get in the way of her goal, but the method she uses for her ambitions is seeming passivity, allowing to be stepped on.

This film is going to make my top 100 this year.  I think that might make me the only person-- or one of a very few--- with two Von Trier movies in their top 100.  And I haven't seen that many, maybe four or five.
"It's not art unless it has the potential to be a disaster." Bansky

sdb_1970

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Re: Dancer in the Dark
« Reply #1 on: September 06, 2012, 11:19:53 AM »
Von Trier is always interesting, even if not always effective ... So what is the other Von Trier to make your top 100?
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MartinTeller

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Re: Dancer in the Dark
« Reply #2 on: September 06, 2012, 11:26:59 AM »
As a powerfully moving drama, it excels.  As a genre experiment, it's compelling.  As an acting tour de force, it's exceptional.  And fantastic music, too.  However, as a condemnation of the American death penality, it's horribly, horribly flawed.

Like most LVT, I have a love/hate thing with it.

1SO

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Re: Dancer in the Dark
« Reply #3 on: September 06, 2012, 11:56:32 AM »
This reads like my reaction to Breaking the Waves, one of the most spiritually questioning movies I've ever seen. I was much less moved by Dancer. I blame the music creating a distance and Selma being framed like a slowly dying puppy. The sentimental angle is too apparent whereas Bess is a more intriguing question mark of a character.

MartinTeller

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Re: Dancer in the Dark
« Reply #4 on: September 06, 2012, 12:07:40 PM »
Dancer in the Dark takes place in Washington state, 1964

last time a woman was executed in the US by hanging: 1937
# of women executed in the US since 1900: 51
# of women executed in the US in 1964: 0
# of women executed in the US between 1957 and 1984: 1
# of women executed in Washington state, ever: 0


Great research, Lars!  But hey, isn't it super sad that this lady had to die because she refused to defend herself?

pixote

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Re: Dancer in the Dark
« Reply #5 on: September 06, 2012, 12:09:48 PM »
Did you go into the film knowing all those stats, or did it just bother you retroactively?

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MartinTeller

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Re: Dancer in the Dark
« Reply #6 on: September 06, 2012, 12:19:08 PM »
Did you go into the film knowing all those stats, or did it just bother you retroactively?

pixote

I didn't know the stats going in, so I guess retroactively. But I watched it with my dad (a historian) and he commented that women rarely get the death penalty. 

But really, the stats are just the icing on the cake.  The situation is preposterous in many ways and the deck has never been more stacked.  It's beyond implausible.  Like I said, it makes for very effective drama but as a political argument it's just a lot of smoke.

maņana

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Re: Dancer in the Dark
« Reply #7 on: September 06, 2012, 12:46:56 PM »
I found that film incredibly frustrating, but that fact that no women have ever actually been executed in Washington seems pretty irrelevant.
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MartinTeller

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Re: Dancer in the Dark
« Reply #8 on: September 06, 2012, 12:56:30 PM »
I agree it's not hugely relevant, but it's about establishing a historical climate.  If you're gonna make a statement about how barbaric our system of capital punishment is, at least set it in a place where your scenario is a likely possibility, with some sort of precedent.

oldkid

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Re: Dancer in the Dark
« Reply #9 on: September 06, 2012, 01:07:49 PM »
The other LVT I have in my top 100 is Melancholia.

The lack of historic precedent doesn't bother me here.  During the film I mentally noted that women almost never get the death penalty, and she almost certainly wouldn't have in this case.  The point for me is an example of the perfect modern martyr, dying so her son can obtain sight, ending a generational curse.   This is a fictional story and generally plausible, so good enough for me.
"It's not art unless it has the potential to be a disaster." Bansky

 

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