Dancer in the Dark

This article is about the Danish musical drama film. For other uses, see Dancer in the Dark (disambiguation).
"Selma Ježková" redirects here. For the opera by Poul Ruders based on the film, see Selma Ježková (opera).

Dancer In The Dark
Theatrical release poster
Directed byLars von Trier
Written byLars von Trier
Produced byVibeke Windeløv
Starring
CinematographyRobby Müller
Edited by
  • François Gédigier
  • Molly Marlene Stensgård
Music byBjörk
Production
companies
Distributed byAngel Films (Denmark)[1]
Les Films du Losange (France)[2]
Constantin Film (Germany)[2]
Istituto Luce (Italy)[2]
Sandrew Metronome (Sweden)[2]
FilmFour Distributors (United Kingdom)[2]
Fine Line Features (United States)[2]
Release dates
  • 17 May 2000 (2000-05-17) (Cannes)
  • 1 September 2000 (2000-09-01) (Denmark previews)
  • 8 September 2000 (2000-09-08) (Scandinavia)
Running time
140 minutes[3][4]
Countries
  • Denmark
  • France
  • Germany
  • Italy
  • Sweden
  • United Kingdom
  • United States
LanguageEnglish
BudgetUSD$12.5 million[5]
(120 million kr)
Box office$45.6 million[5][6]
(416 million kr)

Dancer In The Dark is a 2000 musical psychological tragedy[7] film written and directed by Lars von Trier. It stars Icelandic musician Björk as a factory worker who suffers from a degenerative eye condition and is saving for an operation to prevent her young son from suffering the same fate. Catherine Deneuve, David Morse, Cara Seymour, Peter Stormare, Siobhan Fallon Hogan and Joel Grey also star. The soundtrack for the film, Selmasongs, was written mainly by Björk, but a number of songs featured contributions from Mark Bell and some of the lyrics were written by von Trier and Sjón.

Dancer in the Dark is the third and final installment in von Trier's second trilogy "Golden Heart", following Breaking the Waves (1996) and The Idiots (1998).[8] It was an international co-production among companies based in thirteen European and North American countries and regions.[9] Like the first installment, it was shot with a handheld camera inspired by Dogme 95.[10]

Dancer in the Dark premiered at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival and won the Palme d'Or, along with the Best Actress Award for Björk.[11] The film received generally positive reviews, with Björk's performance being widely praised.

The song "I've Seen It All" performed and co-written by Björk, with Sjón and von Trier, was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song, but lost to "Things Have Changed" by Bob Dylan from Wonder Boys.[12]

  1. ^ "Dancer in the Dark". Danish Film Database. Retrieved 12 June 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "Dancer in the Dark (2000)". UniFrance. Retrieved 12 June 2021.
  3. ^ Lasagna, Roberto; Lena, Sandra (May 2003). Lars von Trier. Gremese Editore. p. 124. ISBN 978-88-7301-543-7. Retrieved 15 October 2010.
  4. ^ "DANCER IN THE DARK (15)". British Board of Film Classification. 13 July 2000. Retrieved 2 January 2013.
  5. ^ a b "Dancer in the Dark – Box Office Data". The Numbers. Retrieved 17 August 2011.
  6. ^ "Dancer in the Dark (2000)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 17 August 2011.
  7. ^ "'Dancer in the Dark': Tragic and Entrancing".
  8. ^ EmanuelLevy (16 November 2010). "Dancer in the Dark (2000): Von Trier's Cannes Fest Top Prize-Winning Film Starring Bjork | Emanuel Levy". Retrieved 17 August 2021.
  9. ^ BFI. "DANCER IN THE DARK (2000)". BFI. Archived from the original on 25 July 2016. Retrieved 7 February 2021.
  10. ^ "Molly Malene Stensgaard "Dialogue with the Audience"". Visegrad Film Forum. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
  11. ^ "Dancer in the Dark | film by von Trier [2000]". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
  12. ^ "Swan song". www.popservations.com. Retrieved 17 August 2021.