The confrontation between kindness and cruelty - "Dancer in the Darkness"

Al 2022-03-20 09:01:47

When goodness meets cruel reality, who will win? In Hollywood-style movies, the side that represents justice will defeat evil in the end and survive. In "Dancer in the Darkness", kindness and innocence are frozen in the form of death, all the veils of tenderness are torn apart, the hope remaining in the hearts of the audience is shattered, and they are hit by fragments of grief and anger.

It must not be a good feeling to watch the idol in my heart crack a little bit, until it finally collapses and vanishes into ashes. At least I experienced a cruel torture when I watched it. The film shows the whole process of this destruction in the form of a documentary. Selma, played by Bjork, has always lived in fear and hope. She fears going blind, fears losing her music, fears losing her hard-earned money for her son's treatment, total darkness will take away the courage of her whole life, healing her son's disease is her only hope, in fantasy Indulgence in singing and dancing brings short-lived joy. In her mind, 2,056 yuan, which is too little money to pay for lawyers' fees, represents a happy future for her son, and is all that a poor mother can pay. In "Seven Coppers," the mother laughs wildly as she finds the last one, and Thelma hysterically yells her son's name, both signs of death.

The combination of romance and realism, and the reasonable transition between black and white and color is the keynote of this film. In Selma's eyes, the real world is all gray, the black and white tones symbolize the ruthless reality, and the shaking and swaying lens is her inner uncertainty about the future. Color represents hope. There are 7 singing and dancing scenes in the film, which are magnificent. Young people are dancing cheerful tap dances beside the railway. There are beautiful sunshine, wooden houses and hills everywhere. The modern singing and dancing contrast with the desolate and desolate singing of York. , with a struggle to break out of the cocoon.

"See through everything / Experience the darkness / See a glimmer of hope when a spark flashes / Make a choice without regrets / A confidant needs / Too much desire leads to greed / I have experienced the past and know the future / I see through / Everything is light..." In In the field, in the factory, not even in prison, can't stop Thelma singing, fantasizing about being the heroine of a musical is her only fun, a playground of escapism, starring in a stage of daydreams Maybe the only way out for the poor. Thelma is as innocent as Tess, and in Tess of the Deborahs, Tess is the symbol of perfection, and good innocence always suffers until it perishes.

In the film, kindness and cruelty confront each other many times. Hoping for a peaceful life, but being led into the abyss by fate, he will soon become blind. The innocent female worker turned into a murderer, but she refused to tell the truth, as if she had been engraved with a scarlet letter, willing to bear the guilt for the guilty priest, and naively kept the secret for the hypocritical dead, waiting for the innocent to be judged by the law. . At Bill's home, Bill, who was also tortured by life, asked Selma to shoot him, paying the price for his naivety again. The two destitute people sentenced each other to death. Selma raised her gun and plunged into doom. During the execution, Thelma sang a song, danced briskly as if to pay a grand banquet, passed cell after cell, and left again with the sound of the guard's hard leather shoes. Reality, into the dream realm of freedom.

Tragedy can always bring people the deepest shock. Like Shakespeare's four tragedies, it reaches its climax when the protagonist is dying and then stops abruptly. "Dancer in the Darkness" also completes the final scene, and black covers the entire curtain. Screaming in the fall, panting in hopelessness. But tragedy is not only to make people angry with the world, but also to think about the original sin in life. Even if truth and goodness are vulnerable in reality, and fate is ups and downs in the waves, should we give up the last place we cling to and go with the flow, or in the dark night Continue to run.

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Extended Reading

Dancer in the Dark quotes

  • Brenda: You'll be transferred to the other cellblock, at some point tomorrow.

    Selma: That's the cellblock where they hang people?

    Brenda: Yeah. That's were they spend the last day.

    Selma: And then they do the 107 steps - it's from that room to the gallows, isn't it?

    Brenda: That's what they say, Selma. But, look it, you're gonna get your stay. Why don't you try to think of something nice. All right?

    Selma: It's just so quiet here.

  • Prison Guard - Serving Selma Jezkova's last meal: Your meal, Jezková,