Dancer in the Dark (DVD, 2001)

this movie will either really appeal or really not appeal to people right from the start based on whether or not they like musicals. This movie is a musical, albeit a pretty deep one. Not liking musicals all that much,I watched it thinking for sure I would come away from it wishing I had watched something else. Much to my surprise, the songs were not silly or ridiculously upbeat, they were whimsical and easily identified with, as are the characters in the film. Bjork plays a great mother who is passionately dedicated to slaving her life away (despite her blindness) in order to save up enough money to give her son an operation that can spare his eyes from the same condition which rendered her blind. The drudgery of this life finds her mind wandering into a more musical and optimistic world where things are just generally more pleasant--and EVERYTHING is music. The real life betrayal she experiences amid all this is enraging, particularly the manipulation thereafter which causes her to do even more wrong and end up with legal consequences that pretty much change her life for the worst--what remains of it. This story is one woven with all the threads of a classic drama: friendship, betrayal, love, family dedication, unrequited love, great music, and, freshly, a strange but admittedly talented musician as the lead character. An introspective look into the world of someone who is not so different from us...until she gets on the stage and begins to sing...and even then, strange is not bad at all. Tissues may be needed for the softhearted for the end of this one though---the main character's life ends rather bluntly and a little graphically--and, as you may have guessed, during one of our leading lady's songs. Over all, an engrossing tale if one is patient with music. I turned out to be, to MY OWN SURPRISE. I'm glad I gave it the whole movie through. Also this movie is appropriate for the very religious--no nudity, no sex, mild drinking by side characters, no drug use, mild use of cigarettes, little blood during one short scene, and only mild use of profanity if any. Happy viewing.