Lars von Trier's Dancer in the Dark (2000) is a drama/musical that follows the story of a young woman who has an undying passion for musicals, despite turning blind and struggling financially. It is considered postmodern for its style and unravelling of events that make up the story.
To start off, the whole film is captured by a handheld camera as the audience watch Selma (Bjork) on her not so happy journey. This approach is commonly used for the effect of causing the viewer to feel like they're part of the scene and strongly involves personally. It also can be used to suggest a character's point of view, but in Dancer in the Dark it is featured consistently and doesn't represent an individual's perspective, instead it is just what the film uses in order for it to be perceived in a certain way. Apart from making the film look low budget and non fictional, it enforces an atmosphere of closeness and connection to the characters involved. Similarly to a documentary, it is almost inviting to the viewer personally, as if they are sat amongst the groups of people and therefore only get to witness the story and its occurrences due to being there. In a way, this effect can make it seem as if the story you're witnessing isn't meant to be a movie, and that the characters' fates are undetermined as they would actually be in the real world.
On that topic, the film really hangs closely to the idea that tragedy and misfortune are more realistic than miracles and happy endings. Although people already know this, many movies take the opportunity to try and give the audience hope or allow them to the leave the cinema with something positive to take away with them. Dancer in the Dark is most certainly not afraid to explore the sad truths and real life obstacles that are pretty much impossible to overcome every day in the world. This idea, once again fits nicely with the handheld camera approach, because it communicates the point of reality and the documentation of real life scenarios, that are commonly pushed away by our subconscious because it's something we prefer to avoid acknowledgement of. With a character who is going blind and has a son that is bound to suffer the same fate as her, already the film sets a low and negative mood as it makes the audience consider the odds for the characters and their chance to prevail.
Like most musicals, there are moments where Selma (and characters around her) breaks into song and dance. During these performances, her surroundings become musical instruments and a stage for her to connect with. Other people join in to convey the song and emotion while taking a break from the drama and situations that previously surround them before the music begins. This seems very familiar to other musicals for all of these reasons, only there is one element about it that completely strips away a chunk of the film's true energy. This is that the songs she sings along to and dances to, are shown to us visually although they're actually more of an interpretation of Selma's imagination. Selma is blind so obviously she would have great difficulty jumping onto moving trains and running across the tables of courtrooms. The fact these songs represent more of an internal visualisation is both beautiful and sad, as it expresses the character's happiness and strong passion for musicals, while on the other hand it points out that musicals are performances and not reality, and the fact Lars von Trier decided to draw attention to this suggests once again that the film is trying to stay on the "reality" side of things.
The film is a meta-fiction as it is essentially a musical about musicals, not absolutely of course, but it's musicals and their existence that make up the character and her admirable drive. There are sections of the film where Selma discusses what she adores about musicals as well as going to see them at the theatre. The use of mise-en abyme here assists the story and its development, especially when the audience gets the see Selma's interpreted world around her even though she cannot see. It forges the idea that Selma has her own subconscious idea of musicals just like us, and they have toyed their way well into her brain and become part of the structure of her imagination.
One more postmodern element is the awful fate of the naturally innocent character and how Trier decides to deliver it. The film's ending departs from the norm of not only films, but also Hollywood musicals, with no happy ending whatsoever. After Selma does what she must to give her son the opportunity for a chance at a promising future, she awaits her execution in a prison cell, with not much to hold onto except her love for music. Up to the very end, she brings her musical interpretation of the world with her. In her final moments it is what composes her and provides her strength to face being killed. One thing about her final chilling moments, is that during the last song she sings, it isn't visually interpretative of her mind and imagination. This time instead, it bluntly makes the audience watch and wait what is going on in the reality, while she sings to herself in a room full of an overpowering level of silence. As she sings, she is dropped quickly and instantly dies while her lifeless body dangles from the rope that engulfs her neck in the room of dead silence, which ultimately passes on its silence and dreadful atmosphere onto the actually audience who are watching the film.
To start off, the whole film is captured by a handheld camera as the audience watch Selma (Bjork) on her not so happy journey. This approach is commonly used for the effect of causing the viewer to feel like they're part of the scene and strongly involves personally. It also can be used to suggest a character's point of view, but in Dancer in the Dark it is featured consistently and doesn't represent an individual's perspective, instead it is just what the film uses in order for it to be perceived in a certain way. Apart from making the film look low budget and non fictional, it enforces an atmosphere of closeness and connection to the characters involved. Similarly to a documentary, it is almost inviting to the viewer personally, as if they are sat amongst the groups of people and therefore only get to witness the story and its occurrences due to being there. In a way, this effect can make it seem as if the story you're witnessing isn't meant to be a movie, and that the characters' fates are undetermined as they would actually be in the real world.
On that topic, the film really hangs closely to the idea that tragedy and misfortune are more realistic than miracles and happy endings. Although people already know this, many movies take the opportunity to try and give the audience hope or allow them to the leave the cinema with something positive to take away with them. Dancer in the Dark is most certainly not afraid to explore the sad truths and real life obstacles that are pretty much impossible to overcome every day in the world. This idea, once again fits nicely with the handheld camera approach, because it communicates the point of reality and the documentation of real life scenarios, that are commonly pushed away by our subconscious because it's something we prefer to avoid acknowledgement of. With a character who is going blind and has a son that is bound to suffer the same fate as her, already the film sets a low and negative mood as it makes the audience consider the odds for the characters and their chance to prevail.
Like most musicals, there are moments where Selma (and characters around her) breaks into song and dance. During these performances, her surroundings become musical instruments and a stage for her to connect with. Other people join in to convey the song and emotion while taking a break from the drama and situations that previously surround them before the music begins. This seems very familiar to other musicals for all of these reasons, only there is one element about it that completely strips away a chunk of the film's true energy. This is that the songs she sings along to and dances to, are shown to us visually although they're actually more of an interpretation of Selma's imagination. Selma is blind so obviously she would have great difficulty jumping onto moving trains and running across the tables of courtrooms. The fact these songs represent more of an internal visualisation is both beautiful and sad, as it expresses the character's happiness and strong passion for musicals, while on the other hand it points out that musicals are performances and not reality, and the fact Lars von Trier decided to draw attention to this suggests once again that the film is trying to stay on the "reality" side of things.
The film is a meta-fiction as it is essentially a musical about musicals, not absolutely of course, but it's musicals and their existence that make up the character and her admirable drive. There are sections of the film where Selma discusses what she adores about musicals as well as going to see them at the theatre. The use of mise-en abyme here assists the story and its development, especially when the audience gets the see Selma's interpreted world around her even though she cannot see. It forges the idea that Selma has her own subconscious idea of musicals just like us, and they have toyed their way well into her brain and become part of the structure of her imagination.
One more postmodern element is the awful fate of the naturally innocent character and how Trier decides to deliver it. The film's ending departs from the norm of not only films, but also Hollywood musicals, with no happy ending whatsoever. After Selma does what she must to give her son the opportunity for a chance at a promising future, she awaits her execution in a prison cell, with not much to hold onto except her love for music. Up to the very end, she brings her musical interpretation of the world with her. In her final moments it is what composes her and provides her strength to face being killed. One thing about her final chilling moments, is that during the last song she sings, it isn't visually interpretative of her mind and imagination. This time instead, it bluntly makes the audience watch and wait what is going on in the reality, while she sings to herself in a room full of an overpowering level of silence. As she sings, she is dropped quickly and instantly dies while her lifeless body dangles from the rope that engulfs her neck in the room of dead silence, which ultimately passes on its silence and dreadful atmosphere onto the actually audience who are watching the film.
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