I’m 15 minutes into it and I’m so bored and irritated I could cry. I’m going to give up for tonight… should I try again tomorrow or just delete it from my TiVo?
Bjork is brilliant in this and the conceit of the film is… something, but the film is best described as something that is endured rather than watched.
I didn’t find it boring… but if you insist on finishing it, please make sure there are none of the following in your house:
- Loaded Gun
*Barbituates
*Hangman’s Noose
*Knifes
*Scissors
*Razor Blades - Any random lethal object.
You will want to use them when you watch the end.
I have not seen this movie, albiet the first 15 minutes myself. I got bored too, but I have been told by a number of people that it gets much better, is fantastic, and the more depressing and sad movie ever.
My brother watched it with his roomate. Halfway through the roomate gets a long phone call, he came back into the room at the end of the movie to find my brother weeping uncontrolably, and was only able to whimper “Dancer in the Dark is the saaaaaddest movie ever!”
(Hi Opal, I love the pic feature in the profile in your forum)
Depressing as hell, but really good. Very trippy. If you like musicals but don’t need them to be plain vanilla, it’s fascinating. Give it another 15 minutes and if you still don’t get it, you won’t.
Well, I’m going to buck the trend and say get out while the gettin’s good. I brought this movie home to watch with the friend I was staying with at the time. I almost had to get a hotel room after we watched it. The only thing that kept me from getting kicked out was the very obvious fact that I hated it as much as she did.
Count me in the group that found it baffling and depressing and wouldn’t recommend it to anyone. (I don’t remember the first fifteen minutes, particularly).
No reason to watch this movie unless you’re a masochist.
Some movies are sad but have redemptive themes. Theres nothing like that here. Nothing good to take away from it. Nothing thought-provoking or interesting. Just unrelenting misery.
If you want a more indepth version of why I strongly disliked this movie, or a couple of other longer and more detailed posts–one by twickster (who thought it was good), you could check out the Straight Dope Musical Salon and Debate Society thread for this movie. Given the premise of the Society–some posts, like the one that starts the thread, contain spoilers, but it gives you more information on which to base your decision.
To answer the OP, delete it now!
I endured this movie because I used to like Bjork. I haven’t listened to Bjork since seeing this movie, I just can’t stand her now. If I could drill the memory of the factory scene out of my brain with a Makita I think Iwould.
Clickity clash your face Bjork!
The factory scene is what turned you off of Bjork? :dubious:
Wh… why? That seemed like “typical” (if there is such a thing) Bjork to me.
-FrL-
I don’t recall it changing dramatically after the first 15 minutes. I got it to cry over. I’d heard it was tragic, had mounting fear throughout, and bawled like a baby by the end. More manipulative than Titanic (what? Got to clean out the old tear ducts. I cry like once a year.)
That being said, one movie about a scapegoat of a woman is tragic. Lars von Trier has several (Dogville, Breaking the Waves), and all together they seem a bit sadistic.
I realize that Bjork does a lot of experimentation but I think the combination of the crappy movie and how annoying that song was just left a permanent bad taste in my mouth.
I used to love Cajun food, but I got food poisoning once and now if I smell the stuff I’m reminded of the 5 hours of hell and I start to feel a little sick. Dancer in the Dark was the food poisoning that turned me off to Bjork I guess.
You know those slapstick routines, often in cartoons, where the chracter trips over something, which causes him to tip over something else, and so on, which eventually brings the entire building crashing down around his head?
Dancer in the Dark played exactly the same to me, only slower. The tragedy went too far and became comedy again. Hilarious movie.
The movie is relentlessly cruel to its protagonist. I hated it.
Really good movie, definitely very depressing but accomplishes what it set out to do. Give it to the first musical number and see if you like it any better, I remember that being about the point I was sucked in.
Really fantastic film - is it David Morse who plays the cop? Thought he was class, and Bjork was in a league of her own, of course. I generally cannot be arsed with films that aspire to any level of sophistication, so tend to remember the ones that work - ‘dancer in the dark’ really stands out for me.
I guess that’s a good recommendation - its a great film for people who don’t like cinema 
One other thing I remember is getting nauseous watching it because of the camera work (I saw it in the cinema). There’s a certain type of film effect that gives me something like motion sickness, and dancer in the dark had it in spades. Kind of went well with the story.
If the movie just had a stedi-cam it would be considered a must-see.
I loved the acting, the musical numbers. The end is emotinally devastating.
the film is made by the rules of Dogme 95. That may be a good thing or a bad thing. I’m not sure.
The film breaks many of the rules of Dogme 95, not that it really matters.
I liked the music pretty well. Otherwise, the movie is stilted, manipulative and implausible like all of Van Trier’s movies. He had some kind of a breakdown and is no longer making films I hear.
Biggest laugh I’ve had all week (especially since I have friends who insist on playing ‘Selma’s Songs’ when I’m at their places, hung over)