rose

"Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens,
bright copper kettles and warm woollen mittens,
brown paper packages tied up with strings,
these are a few of my favourite things.

When the dog bites, when the bee stings,
when I'm feeling sad,
I simply remember my favourite things,
and then I don't feel so bad"

"Dancer in the dark" is a film by Lars Von Trier (Dogville). It was released in 2000 and stars Bjork as Selma, a Czech immigrant to the USA who suffers from congenital degenerative blindness. Her aim is to save up money whilst doing a horrible job in order to pay for an operation for her son to prevent him from going blind like she is. It's a musical, and she escapes from her drudging existence into song at several key points in the film.

I don't want to give too much of the story away, but I can say that it is a dark and harrowing journey through the American legal system and capitalism. Bjork is brilliant in it and she is quite believable as the simple woman who only wants one thing from her life, which is to save her son from the blindness that awaits her. Her blindness is a clear metaphor for the spiritual blindness of the society in which she finds herself. She acts entirely on emotion rather than logic - "listen to your heart" - and this results in a chain of events that lead to the dark conclusion.

This film is disturbing and harrowing and is one that will make you think. Like other Von Trier films, he has a female "heroine" who withstands terrible conditions in order for the film to make comments on society.

This is not a fun film, it is not "entertainment", but it is darkly brilliant and is guaranteed to move you. There is a good chance it will start an argument too, and that has to be a good thing. Bjork is great in the part and her on-screen emotion is perfectly rendered. It's interesting to note that she immersed herself so deeply in the part that it affected her life outside the film and she vowed to never act in a film again.

Tom.