dancer in the dark
just found a note to myself to write about watching the film 'dancer in the dark' the other day.
i wasn't sure part way through, but later into it i was sure that i was enjoying the experience *smile* the central character - selma (played by björk) - loves musicals, and the film is in part a musical... as well as being shot in almost documentary style... and being a conventional drama - quite a mix, and a successful one. back to the musicals... in the film the character jeff says he doesn't understand musicals - people don't suddenly start singing and dancing in real/his experience of life - which nicely articulated my own feelings/experience of musicals *smile* i don't particularly understand/enjoy musicals (with a few exceptions), and i did find myself thinking 'come on, get on with the story' during the musical sections of the film, but they were really well done, and central to both film and character, and superb in that right. and there's a musical within the musical too *grin* very much a character-led/based film/story, imo - the focus on/development of characters at times giving a jerkyness, lending a quirkiness, to the film - and i liked this. and an interesting mix of actors. the more i write, the more i remember liking about the film *grin* the story is left to slowly unfurl, and there's time and space within the film to enjoy this, and all that i've previously mentioned. the thing i thought was truely excellent within the film is in the latter part/half/third, when the tale is taking an uncomfortable twist, and when it finally comes to court it gives so much scope for questioning what actually went on/happened - seeing the incident between bill and selma through the eyes of bill's wife and the prosecutor, combined with the presentation of selma as 'other' (nationality/citizenship stauts, impairment..) and romantically caught up in an inner world of musicals, beautifully questions the reality of events initially seen from her - and our - perspective, makes us question our own version of reality. superb *smile*
i wasn't sure part way through, but later into it i was sure that i was enjoying the experience *smile* the central character - selma (played by björk) - loves musicals, and the film is in part a musical... as well as being shot in almost documentary style... and being a conventional drama - quite a mix, and a successful one. back to the musicals... in the film the character jeff says he doesn't understand musicals - people don't suddenly start singing and dancing in real/his experience of life - which nicely articulated my own feelings/experience of musicals *smile* i don't particularly understand/enjoy musicals (with a few exceptions), and i did find myself thinking 'come on, get on with the story' during the musical sections of the film, but they were really well done, and central to both film and character, and superb in that right. and there's a musical within the musical too *grin* very much a character-led/based film/story, imo - the focus on/development of characters at times giving a jerkyness, lending a quirkiness, to the film - and i liked this. and an interesting mix of actors. the more i write, the more i remember liking about the film *grin* the story is left to slowly unfurl, and there's time and space within the film to enjoy this, and all that i've previously mentioned. the thing i thought was truely excellent within the film is in the latter part/half/third, when the tale is taking an uncomfortable twist, and when it finally comes to court it gives so much scope for questioning what actually went on/happened - seeing the incident between bill and selma through the eyes of bill's wife and the prosecutor, combined with the presentation of selma as 'other' (nationality/citizenship stauts, impairment..) and romantically caught up in an inner world of musicals, beautifully questions the reality of events initially seen from her - and our - perspective, makes us question our own version of reality. superb *smile*