Dancer in the Dark Movie Review

“Dancer in the Dark” was one of the most horrible films I’ve ever seen. Don’t get me wrong the plot was interesting a single mom living with her son wanting the best for her son just as another other mother would’ve. But, where was her son father? How come he was never mentioned? What made Selma so sure that her genes were strong enough to make her son go as blind as her? The singing throughout the film was also a concern of mines not only was it foolish it just confused me. For example Selma begin singing after she killed Bill and she runs up to his wife and sings, “I killed you’re husband” as if this was some sort of joke. As stated in Edbert’s review, “Maybe it seems silly, anyway but you can admire his nerve”. Actually, I didn’t admire his “nerve” because at that point in the film it was nothing to be silly about. This point of the film was to be taken serious because Bill stole Selma’s money then lied to his wife because he didn’t want to tell her the truth then asks Selma to kill him behind his wife back. Unfortunately there was no humor in that scene what so ever. With that being said I also noticed the quality of the film, which wasn’t so great. The movements of the camera and the cuts in each shot made the film seem almost unreal or as if someone was filming the entire movie on there cell phone. I couldn’t understand why every time Selma would be begin to sing there would be this orange tangy coloring to the film. Was this because this is what made her happy? Brighter colors happier mood? I have no idea but every time I saw the shift in color it was predictable that the next scene would be singing. “Most of the film is shot in fairly drab digital video, but the musical videos have brighter colors”(Ebert). Moreover, the singing throughout this film is what really ruined everything for me, because it seemed like every aspect of her life that was supposed to be taken serious at that point was almost like a joke. When she killed Bill, when she was in the courtroom, when she went to jail, and when she was about to get hung. Each of these scenes was serious moments in Selma’s life and I didn’t understand the connection of the songs being sung or even the dances. At the end of the film I wasn’t sure if I should boo or cheer myself, I was in total shock at first then as I walked a few steps outside of the classroom I allowed everything to sink in and I said, “That movie was horrible”.  Then after class on Thursday when one of my classmates said they actually enjoyed the film I was completely puzzled and eager to hear about the aspects of the film that he enjoyed. Ironically, more students in my class disliked the film more than they actually like the film mixed reviews are clearly normal. “After the screening, the auditorium filled with booing and cheering--so equal in measure that people started booing or cheering at each other”(Ebert).