Dancer in the Dark

I honestly never thought I'd see the day when Bjork did a duet with Peter Stormare until I realized that I was watching musical directed by Lars von Trier. Like his Breaking the Waves, it is about a naive, incredibly kind woman who must suffer for one reason or another. Oh, yeah, and she's also going blind. Von Trier pummels his audience as relentlessly as his innocent protagonist, and even though it may be tamer than Breaking the Waves, it also lacks the boldly redemptive aspect of that film. Bjork turns out to be a surprisingly good actress, and because of her condition and sweet nature, one can't help but sympathize with her. It's basically just a big melodrama that only kind of works. Von Trier also likes to spice things up by throwing in some incredibly cheap satire of what he perceives to be American life. For my money, I'll take Breaking the Waves and Dogville over this any day.