Dancer In The Dark

By EWAN McDONALD

(Herald rating: * * * )

You may hate Bjork's music and love her movie. You may love her music and hate her movie. You will probably do all of the above at various times during this Cannes award-winner.

The first thing to be aware of is Dancer In The Dark is a difficult movie to watch. Lars von Trier, the Danish director best known for the bleak, harrowing Breaking The Waves, holds to a set of principles which involve using hand-held cameras, filming in available light and not following the simple storylines you find in a Hollywood movie.

So it's jerky, drab and downbeat in colour and mood, bounces around the screen and requires the sort of concentration not often associated with looking at other actor-popsingers, like Jennifer Lopez.

The Icelandic warbler stars as Selma, a Czech who has emigrated to America, has a small son, operates heavy machinery in a factory, is going blind and is saving for an operation to prevent her son from going blind, too.

To boost her income she attaches pins to cards. She keeps her money in a sweets tin.

Selma and son live in a caravan behind the home of a cop, Bill (David Morse). His money-grubbing wife thinks he has a big inheritance. He doesn't, and what he had she's spent. Bill adores Selma but it isn't giving anything away to reveal that he will betray her.

Jeff (Peter Stormare) follows Selma around because he wants to be her boyfriend. She doesn't want a boyfriend. Both Selma and Jeff are not the full exchange rate. Her friend, Kathy (Catherine Deneuve), realises Selma's predicament and wants to help her.

In a Hollywood musical the director and stars introduce song and dance to brighten and lighten the mood. This movie begins with Selma rehearsing for the local production of The Sound Of Music (yep, Bjork tapdancing and chirping My Favourite Things) and von Trier drops song-and-dance numbers into locales like the factory floor and a railway bridge. I'm no expert but a piece of friendly advice: you've had a bad day and want cheering up, don't go to a Scandinavian musical.

So, this is quite unlike any other movie at your multiplex or on the shelves of your video store. I'm going to call it "complex and challenging." That's what my boss said about a recent memo, and I'm still not sure if he liked it or not.

Running time: 160 mins

Rental: Now