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I was so nervous about seeing the new Lars Von Trier film "Dancer in the Dark." It's the story of a gentle mother who is slowly going blind, and how she saves money so her son can have an operation and be spared of the same fate. Intertwined with the film is a remarkable score by Icelandic pop star, Björk, who also stars as the dear Mom, Selma.
To escape from the dark, dreariness of her existence, Selma escapes into the magic of the musicals with her best friend, portrayed by the gorgeous Catherine Deneuve. The reason I was so scared to see this movie is because the trailers alone would choke me up. And the reviews I read of Björk's heartbreaking portrayal of Selma touched my heart. I read that Björk threw herself so passionately into the role that she was losing sense of herself, storming off the sets, breaking down into tears. Catherine told the press, "Björk was Selma" and I was so impressed with her devotion and committment. (Björk has since told the press that she will never act again, and after seeing what she must have went through for this film, I cannot blame her...)
But despite my trepidation, we were there opening night, and I spent the next two hours gasping, crying and sighing, wide-eyed and on the edge of my seat. The ending literally knocked the wind out of me. (I know, I know - jaded film critics are writing callous remarks like, "You'll see the ending coming from a mile away..." but frankly, I didn't and I don't care...)
After the credits finished rolling, and Mike and I stepped out into the night air, I felt so vulnerable and fragile. One wrong word or mean look could have shattered me at that moment. Part of me wanted to go home so I could cuddle beneath the blankets and watch some old episodes of The Sifl and Olly Show or Kids in the Hall to shake the image Selma from my mind, but we ended up going to a local record store instead, and lo and behold, guess what was right there in front of my face?!!! This CD. Mike looked at me nervously and asked gently, "What do you think? Do you want to get it?" I responded, "Yes, but I feel so sensitive right now, I don't know if I can listen to it for a few days..."
Well, darned if I didn't put the CD on the stereo the very second we got home from the record store! This is just so freaking good! Bjork's songs are so ingenious. "Cvalda" takes the clanks and clangs of factory machinery and creates a funky dance beat, and the tender "I've Seen It All" takes the rhythm of the rails that carries the vocals of Bjork and Radiohead's Thom Yorke (and while Thom has a gorgeous voice, I would have liked to have had the real actor's vocals. Deneuve and Siobhan Fallon appear on the CD as they do in the film.) And then there's the wonderful, bright and wistful "In The Musicals" which takes the sound of sneakers squeaking on linoleum --- ohhh, this is just so ingenious and inventive and creative! Björk is such an amazing musician and songwriter! I would love to see Björk walk away with the Academy Award for "Best Actress" at next year's Oscars, but if that doesn't happen, then she MUST win for "Best Score" or there is something really, really horribly wrong with this world. (janice.11.00)
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