100
San Francisco Chronicle by Edward Guthmann
A thrilling, audacious work.
Dancer in the Dark
Critic Rating
(read reviews)User Rating
- Denmark,
- Germany,
- Netherlands,
- Italy,
- United Kingdom,
- France,
- Sweden,
- Finland,
- Iceland,
- Argentina
- 2000
- · 141m
Director
Lars Von Trier
Cast
Björk,
Catherine Deneuve,
David Morse,
Peter Stormare,
Joel Grey,
Cara Seymour
Genre
Drama
Selma, a Czech immigrant on the verge of blindness, struggles to make ends meet for herself and her son, who has inherited the same genetic disorder. When life gets difficult, Selma learns to cope through her love of musicals, escaping life's troubles by dreaming up little numbers to the rhythmic beats of her surroundings.
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What are critics saying?
100
Miami Herald by René Rodríguez
One of the most searing experiences to be had at the movies this year.
90
Rolling Stone by Peter Travers
For all its fancy pedigree, the spellbinding Dancer in the Dark aims right for the heart and aces its target.
89
Mr. Showbiz by Michael Atkinson
Easily the year's most trying, tormented, and thrilling movie ordeal.
88
Charlotte Observer by Lawrence Toppman
Can be unbearably moving or annoyingly mawkish, sometimes in the same scene.
88
Chicago Sun-Times by Roger Ebert
It is a bold, reckless gesture.
88
San Francisco Examiner by Wesley Morris
A movie too smart and too urgent to be categorically awful. Clinically insane may be another matter altogether.
88
Chicago Tribune by Michael Wilmington
(The film is) one of the most anguished, intense and weirdly brilliant of the year.
80
L.A. Weekly by Ella Taylor
I was astonished to find myself weeping copiously over von Trier's latest, which is another parable of monomaniacal sainthood.
80
Washington Post by Desson Thomson
You may leave this movie exhilarated by its no-holds-barred boldness or annoyed and bewildered at the unpredictable course it takes.
75
Baltimore Sun by Chris Kaltenbach
A film of so much daring, a film that takes so many chances, it's impossible not to be impressed.
75
Portland Oregonian by Shawn Levy
Ought to win a prize for sheer audacity.
50
Philadelphia Inquirer by Carrie Rickey
A movie that by turns is wincingly awful and heartbreakingly fine. It boasts an unforgettable performance by Björk.
50
New York Post by Jonathan Foreman
If it weren't for a terrific central performance by the Icelandic pop singer Bjork, Dancer in the Dark would be all but unwatchable.
42
Seattle Post-Intelligencer by William Arnold
Fairly incompetent as a musical and rather silly as a drama.
40
Salon by Stephanie Zacharek
Lars von Trier is a mechanic, not an artist. And his movies are meat grinders he feeds his characters through.
30
Slate by David Edelstein
At times the movie's crudeness has an eerie beauty, but the musical fantasies are a bewildering hash, and the protracted climax on death row is nearly unendurable.
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