Hey, everyone. "Moriarty" here with a review that was sent in by one of our overseas readers, NUXX. I'm dying to get a look at this movie, and it delights NUXX to no end to see something before I did. While I grumble and curse his name, check out what he has to say...

Hello Moriarty.

I had the pleasure of watching the premiere of Lars Von Triers latest epic last night, and? Well?

Let me first say this is a great movie. It is... really. Von Trier deserves his Palme d´Or for this.

But before I delve into my praise, here's the story:

The female immigrant Selma from Czechoslovakia (Björk) lives in the rural US in the sixties. She suffers from an eye-disease that day by day is decreasing her sight, but she hides her handicap since she´s working at a factory to save up money for an eye operation, not for herself, but for her son who has the same disease. She has only two passions in life: Her son, whom she loves above all else, and old B&W musicals that are her only escape from her harsh everyday life. Her best friend and mother figure Kathy (Catherine Deneuve in a great role here) supports her in every way she can, helping her conceal her blindness at the factory and explaining what´s happening on the screen when they watch musicals together at the local cinema. Selma is romanced by Jeff (Peter Stomare, underused but very convincing) who´s not the brightest bulb on the Christmas tree, but nevertheless has nothing but deep and true feelings for her. But Selma has no room for such feelings, her thoughts are always with her son and his disease, and there is no room for a man in her life. Selma and her son live together in a trailer in the backyard of the local town cop Bill (David Morse who really shines in this role) and his dimwitted wife Jean (Cara Seymour), who believes that Bill is extremely wealthy.

Selma and Bill are good friends, but Bill is having trouble making enough money to satisfy his wife´s luxurious needs. He´s desperate. Selma´s hard earned money for her sons operation suddenly comes into the play. Tragedy ensues. No spoilers here, since the rest of the story is crucial for the experience of this movie.

This is not a great movie in the traditional sense of course, since Von Trier demands A LOT of the viewer. You´d better believe that this movie is not made within the traditional tight boundaries of the usual Hollywood template. Von Trier has his very own special way of telling this story... its like hearing a bedtime story from that uncle you really like, but who has a serious alcohol problem that makes him irritating to listen to sometimes, but on the other hand makes him brutally honest.

This movie is just that. Brutally honest. And let me just say here that the camera is also held by that drunk uncle i was talking about. Von Trier has chosen to use the same camera technique he used in Breaking The Waves, resulting in a sometimes confusing, but very realistic way of showing the viewer what´s going on. Its all shot on DV, but once you get used to the cheapish feel, it works. And the editing is going to make you either want to vomit or applaud Von Trier for taking such risks with his editing. Again, my opinion is that it works. Sometimes beautifully.

And yes, this IS a musical. But not one of those classic ones from the MGM days of yore, but re-invented and downplayed. See, the song and dance is only used in Selmas fantasy/dream sequences, she´s using her fond memories of the musical form to escape from her dreadful life. This makes the movie realistic, and gives Björks character more depth. And Björk brings a lot to this movie. She is definitly not an actress, she is too much Björk to be anybody else, but Von Trier tailormade Selma´s character around Björk the person. Again, this works (apart from the fact that Björk accent is Icelandic with a whole lot of cockney British thrown in for good measure, the whole being Czech thing is NOT convincing). The music is composed by Björk herself, and uses samples of the noises from the scenery where the musical scenes take place (trains, factory sounds, etc.) for the groundbeat. People who like Björks music are really going to go straight from the cinema to the nearest Tower Records to get this soundtrack, its special, but gorgeous.

The story. Hmmmmm... well, the story is so-so. Sometimes things get a bit confusing, but this is Selmas world were in, and she´s a victim of her chaotic feelings which again is the gas for this films engine. The story goes to a new level every time Selma acts on her feelings. And without giving too much away, this story does not have a Hollywood ending, not by a long shot. Von Trier is not at any time leaving any room for a happy ending. I mean, people started to cry half an hour before the movie ended for chrissakes! And before all you nay-sayers out there start yelling CHICK FLICK!, it's definitly not. This is most likely one of the darkest, bleakest movies ive seen in a long time, but as always in a Von Trier movie, its about real people in extraordinary situations. Its a celebration of life in its purest form (yes, i know im getting carried away here), and thats the reason people need to see this movie. Lars Von Trier will never work in Hollywood, nor does he want to. He´d rather get pour gasoline over his balls and set fire to them than work in tinseltown. Hollywood stands for all that is evil for him, and thank god for that, he would never be allowed to make a movie like this there.

Aside from the fact that most people outside of Denmark only know Von Triers work through Breaking The Waves, The Idiots and The Kingdom (and hopefully also ELEMENT OF CRIME, my favorite) he is easily one of the most original filmakers living today. His movies are sometimes difficult to watch, but there is always something really extraordinary in there, somewhere. I fully recommend DANCER IN THE DARK to anyone out there who arent afraid of taking a chance with their movies. This one is definitly worth it.

The praise ends here.

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