Dancing in the Dark with Björk

Once in a blue moon there’s a film that really grips you. I mean, strangle-hold, pin-you-down-on-the-mat, no-crying-uncle kind of film where at times you struggle to catch your breath, you choke back tears, you wrestle with emotion and are overcome with awe. A connection is formed. And when it’s all over, when the screen goes black and the block letters scroll up from the bottom of your screen, you feel as though a little part of you may have changed slightly. I felt that shift after watching Lars von Trier’s Dancer in the Dark starring Icelandic singer Björk.

You may scoff at first, rolling your eyes at the realization that this is—yes—a musical. You may assume it’ll have a bit of Newsies pluckiness or Grease’s teenage soap opera angst. Perhaps it will have epic political undertones like The Sound of Music or gaudy and outlandish characters like Rocky Horror Picture Show. Instead, you’ll find a tactful film, complete with original story line and a soundtrack you wouldn’t be ashamed to play in your car.

 

The movie, tailor-made for Björk with the score being composed by her, is a story about a Czech woman who faces imminent medical problems and struggles to make sure that the same doesn’t happen for her son. She escapes life’s woes by daydreaming that her life is a musical because “somebody’s always there to catch you when you fall,” in a musical.

I do have to admit, I’m a Björk fan. Always have been. So to see her, to listen to her amazing voice and be able to connect the emotion with the story behind the lyrics, brings her to a whole new level for me. She committed to her character in a way that was so believable, so utterly moving, that I couldn’t help but share this film with all of you. It’s no wonder she was nominated for a Golden Globe and won best actress when the film debuted at Cannes in 2000.

I never watch movies twice, but I’d watch this a thousand times over.