Translated material
Anton Dolin. How to make a brilliant film
(To the Moscow premiere of "Dancer in the Dark" by Lars von Trier)
1. It is necessary to launch a PR campaign competently and timely. The filming of the film should become known about a year and a half in advance, always from unofficial sources. Then - about a year before the premiere and a couple of months before the actual start of filming - the film must be officially announced, mentioning the main actors, the budget and, of course, the title. For example: "Dancing in the Dark" . A fitting title.
2. It is necessary to create a legend. It's good if it already exists. For example, everyone knows “Breaking the Waves” and “The Idiots”, everyone knows that Lars von Trier is torn between the avant-garde present and the pathetic past, everyone knows that he doesn’t give a damn about the laws (including those written by himself). Except for the only thing that for some reason is consistently observed: the law of the tripartite structure. Something like something out of a fairy tale. The beloved fairy tale about the "Golden Heart" inspired Trier for the last trilogy. Therefore, the main role is played by a female creature with exceptional spiritual qualities, so everything must end badly.
3. Reasonable casting is necessary. To attract public attention - stars. Extremely stellar. Catherine Deneuve would be quite suitable, and the elegantly casual mention that she asked for the role would complete the matter. To attract a new viewer, it wouldn’t hurt to have a star from some other area. Björk is ideal. Firstly, a woman, and one who fully possesses the required external characteristics - quite quirky and strange, quite charming and touching. For average moviegoers, there are minor but familiar actors from Hollywood films: Stephen Morse, just seen in the somewhat similar prison-mystical drama “The Green Mile,” and Peter Stormare (Russian cosmonaut Andropov), beloved by “Armageddon” fans. Intellectuals know that Stormare is an actor of the late Bergman ("Fanny and Alexander"), as well as of the mature Coens ("Fargo", "The Big Lebowski"). They also know Jean-Marc Barr, the star of "Abyss Blue" and "Europe" (and the fact that von Trier, as in "Breaking the Waves", forces an extraordinary artist to play in an insignificant episode is a second question). And von Trier's fans will see in very tiny scenes, like "food is served", the main characters of "The Idiots", in the role of one doctor - Stellan Skarsgård (Jan in "Breaking the Waves"), and the other - Udo Kier, Fassbinder's favorite and the main actor Trier. In general, there is no particular point in listing further - the microworld of "Dancing" is populated by faces familiar to the viewer.
4. A scandal is necessary (in advance). Actually, the fact that Lars von Trier is filming a musical is a scandal in itself. Björk , who made her film debut in the title role, is scandal number two. The inevitable conflict between the director and the leading actress is the third and main scandal. Vague press reports are interspersed with unexpectedly clear facts - for example, "Björk was so angry with von Trier that she tore her own blouse with her teeth and left the filming location for several days." The audio is re-edited several weeks before the premiere. Björk is dissatisfied with the final version of the music, Trier is pleased. In general, nothing sticks?.. But the audience’s interest is successfully stirred up.
5. An adequate genre form is required. Musical plus drama; von Trier himself proudly compares his film not with an operetta (the classic analogue of a musical), but with an opera : in opera people cry. However, in fact, this is a musical that assumes maximum unnaturalness: everyone dances, sings along... The choreographer of Madonna and Michael Jackson, Vincent Paterson, is hired, and in the meantime is offered the role of the main traitor. Coexists with the musical is melodrama or simply drama, which in the process approaches the form of ancient tragedy. A conflict between feelings and duty, the latter wins at the cost of the life of the main character. The third genre component is the fairy tale, the notorious “Heart of Gold”. However, the viewer got used to Trier’s free interpretation of this plot after “Breaking the Waves” and “The Idiots.” To put it all together, you need an appropriate plot. America of the 50s (hence the love for musicals, old-fashioned aesthetics), an emigrant from the Czech Republic working in a factory and going blind from a hereditary disease (melodrama), collecting money for her son’s operation until the money disappears and the heroine is accused - falsely - of a crime , for which she will suffer an undeserved but grave punishment (tragedy). Behind all this are saving phantoms: when Selma becomes really ill, she models an imaginary world around herself in which she becomes the heroine of a musical (fairy tale). As a result, saving phantoms, however, cannot save anyone.
6. Music is required. It is so important in the genre-plot structure that you can’t do without it. The idea is very simple: from everyday noise, be it the sound of train wheels on rails, the crack of a record, the scratch of a pen on paper, a rhythm is born, and from it a melody and a song. Björk comes in very handy, because in her penultimate, quite innovative album “Homogenic” she abandoned everything except a large orchestra, synthesized rhythms and her own voice. She is asked to do the same on the soundtrack to “Dancer in the Dark.” Despite his irritation and obvious dislike for von Trier, composer Björk copes with the task excellently.
7. The right angle of view is necessary. Seeing is no less important than hearing. Or more important, since songs take up no more than 30% of the film, but you have to watch 100%. The direct proportional relationship between Selma losing her sight and the increase in the sensitivity of her hearing is also clear. Von Trier decides to build a visual series based on contrast. Using a video camera, the director himself films the content, or “documentary”, part of the film, which is quite consistent with the Dogma-95 manifesto . Therefore, in this part everything is difficult and uncomfortable for the viewer: the camera holds for a long time a single blurry frame - for example, the heroine’s face distorted by agony... In the “musical” part everything is different. The dance numbers are staged in a space in which a hundred cameras are hidden, they are recorded simultaneously, and then von Trier himself takes on the editing. The color also changes, turning from faded natural to “tinted”, reminiscent of “Gone with the Wind” and the first color films. The effect is amazing. Von Trier is “helped” by director of photography Robbie Müller, who directed “Breaking the Waves,” “Dead Man,” and “Sky Over Berlin.”
8. A screen is required. Venue for the premiere. The Lumière Hall at the Cannes Film Festival'2000 ticks all the boxes. Only here, despite his phobia of travel, von Trier is chosen every few years to present new paintings; here he earned two awards from the Higher Technical Commission - a special prize and a grand prix. It's time to get the Golden Palm. To do this, you can even put on a tailcoat, as well as a signature red bow tie.
9. The press is necessary. It is enough to torment her with dispassionate official reports, not to give interviews, to resolutely prohibit journalists from reviewing the film from telling its ending, and also to rudely interrupt an Icelandic observer at a press conference who tried to ask a question to the national star Björk. The front pages of all newspapers and magazines are then provided.
10. A spectator is required. He needs to be irritated by making the film uncomfortable to watch. Before the first frames start, force you to look at a completely blank screen and listen to the overture. Then show the sign with the name of the film so that it shakes in the frame. Disorient, changing, like gloves, shooting and editing techniques. Finally, knock the rug out from under the feet with a blow to the gut - the last scene. At first everyone is crying, then some are whistling, the rest are applauding.
PS It is enough to know and strictly follow all the mentioned conditions, and you don’t have to be Lars von Trier. The problem is that these conditions are known only to Lars von Trier...