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Dancer in the Dark

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Dancer in the Dark

Dancer in the Dark is a 2000 psychological tragedy musical film written and directed by Lars von Trier. It stars Icelandic musician Björk as a factory worker who has a degenerative eye condition and is saving for an operation to prevent her young son from suffering the same fate. Catherine Deneuve, David Morse, Cara Seymour, Peter Stormare, Siobhan Fallon Hogan and Joel Grey also star. The soundtrack, Selmasongs, was written mainly by Björk, with contributions from Mark Bell and some lyrics were written by Trier and Sjón.

Dancer in the Dark is the final installment in Trier's second trilogy, "Golden Heart", following Breaking the Waves (1996) and The Idiots (1998). It was an international co-production among companies based in thirteen European and North American countries and regions. Like the first installment, it was shot with a handheld camera inspired by Dogme 95.

Dancer in the Dark premiered at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival and won the Palme d'Or, along with the Best Actress Award for Björk. It received generally positive reviews, with Björk's performance being widely praised.

The song "I've Seen It All", performed and co-written by Björk, with Sjón and Trier, was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song, but lost to "Things Have Changed" by Bob Dylan from Wonder Boys.

In Washington State in 1964, Selma Ježková, a Czech immigrant, has moved to the United States with her 12-year-old son Gene Ježek. They live a life of poverty as Selma works at a factory with her good friend Kathy, whom she nicknames Cvalda. She rents a trailer home on the property of local police officer Bill Houston and his wife, Linda. She is romantically pursued by the shy but persistent Jeff.

Selma is gradually losing her vision due to a degenerative eye condition, but still is saving money to pay for an operation that will prevent Gene from sharing her fate. She also takes part in rehearsals for a production of The Sound of Music and accompanies Kathy to the local cinema, where together they watch Hollywood musicals, as Kathy describes them to her.

In her day-to-day life, Selma slips into daydreams, imagining herself in a musical ("Cvalda"). Jeff and Kathy begin to realize that Selma's vision is worse than they thought, and that she has been memorizing eye charts in order to pass vision tests and keep her job. Bill reveals to Selma that Linda's excessive spending has put the couple's house in danger of foreclosure by their bank. He has contemplated suicide but cannot bring himself to carry out the act. Selma promises to keep his secret and confides in him about her advancing vision loss. Bill pretends to leave, but watches Selma hide her money in a tin.

The next day, Selma's boss Norman believes that her eye condition has deteriorated; he accepts her resignation and pays her final wages, but promises to re-hire her once her sight has improved. However, Kathy accuses him of firing her. Not willing to get her job back, Jeff tries to escort her home by car, but she walks home along a railroad bridge instead ("I've Seen It All"). Opening the tin to add her money to it, Selma finds it empty. Realizing that Bill has robbed her, she goes to his house to confront him. Linda accuses Selma of trying to seduce her husband, explaining that Bill told her Selma wanted him for his money. Not wanting to reveal her knowledge of the impending foreclosure, Selma ignores Linda and confronts Bill about the theft. They fight over the money, with Bill drawing a gun only to be accidentally shot by Selma.

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