Dancer in the Dark

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Dancer in the Dark ★★ 1999 (R)

A love it or hate it production from Danish provocateur Von Trier. Czech immigrant Selma (Bjork) is a single mom working in a small factory, where her best friend is another immigrant, Kathy (Deneuve). Selma is also close to her landlords Bill and Jean (Morse, Seymour) but tells no one that she's going blind, a fate her son will also suffer unless he gets an expensive operation. Then the money Selma has been saving is stolen and she accuses the bankrupt Bill, leading to tragedy. It sounds clear enough but mixed up in the story is Selma's participation in an amateur production of “The Sound of Music” and her numerous musical fantasies. Exteriors were filmed in Sweden and interiors in a Danish studio, although it's set in rural America. 141m/C VHS, DVD . DK SW FR Bjork, Catherine Deneuve, David Morse, Peter Stormare, Cara Seymour, Joel Grey, Vincent Paterson, Vladi-ca Kostic, Jean-Marc Barr, Udo Kier, Zeljko Ivanek; D: Lars von Trier; W: Lars von Trier; C: Robby Muller; M: Bjork. Cannes '00: Actress (Bjork), Film; Ind. Spirit '01: Foreign Film.