Dancer in the Dark

     My overall impression of Von Triger's Dancer in the Dark is a confusing mix of emotions. There were aspects of the movie that I liked like Bjork as Selma and the emotional and gripping finale. But the things I didn't like made it hard for the good things to shine through. The struggles of an immigrant were very accurately portrayed in the role of sweet and lovable Selma. She really was a beautiful soul that could see the best in dark situations. Her love of musicals was shown very clearly by a wise choice of songs throughout the movie, albeit with some very weird songs that were hard to understand in the Czech accent. At first, I had no idea where the movie could possibly be going. The first hour and a half seemingly had no point. But as the movie took more of a focus on Selma's relationship with her son Gene through her struggle with the justice system, it began to really grab my emotions and I felt along with the characters. The end scene was probably one of the most moving things I've ever seen in a movie and I highly recommend to anyone to not watch it alone.
     Even though there were all these intense and creatively portrayed aspects, I find it hard to say that I liked the movie. The first thing that bothered me right off the bat were the camera angles and views. Why did it look like a stalker filmed the entire movie? I can't say why it bothered me so much but the whole Indie/Documentary feel just isn't something I enjoyed. A second question I have is why did every one look so creepy, almost like they were scared? I get that Jeff was a decent guy, but it did not come off that was when he was following Selma around and offering her rides everywhere. Even Bill came off a little petrified-looking. The only other question I had is was it really necessary to include the songs in the movie? They were very weird, and I don't think they fit very well with what the director was trying to get across. I could understand Selma's love of sound and music just by the rhythms she hears wherever she goes, and how devastated she was when she had to resign from The Sound of Music, so I don't see the point of making a musical out of a docudrama.