http://www.editorsnet.com/article/mainv/0,7220,21504,00.html

EditorsNet  2000-10-04

By Elina Shatkin


"Chanteuse Björk Chats About 'Dancer'"


NEW YORK -- Despite rumors of temperamental disagreements on the set, 
Icelandic avant-pop sensation Björk recently visited New York to promote 
her star turn in Lars von Trier's "Dancer in the Dark," the digitally 
photographed melodrama-musical that has been riding a tidal wave of 
publicity since its debut at the Cannes International Film Festival in 
May. The film premiered Sept. 22 to North American audiences as the 
opening attraction of the 38th annual New York Film Festival. It was 
released in New York the following day and opens nationwide Oct. 6. 

In an interview at the Essex House Hotel, Björk seemed to be enjoying 
the mellow atmosphere in New York. She candidly discussed her 
experiences on the film, including her often-explosive relationship 
with its director. 

Rarely has the arrival of a European import inspired such a heavy dose 
of domestic media coverage. Time Out New York and Paper magazine have 
run cover stories on "Dancer," and its stars, Björk and French screen 
legend Catherine Deneuve, recently wrapped a slew of appearances on both 
local and national television. 

In the film, Björk plays Selma, a Czech immigrant who has come to the 
United States so her 12-year-old son can have an operation that will 
save his eyesight. To escape the tedium of her factory job, Selma often 
imagines herself as a character in a Hollywood-style musical, where the 
harsh realities of her everyday life are transformed into elaborately 
choreographed song-and-dance routines. Deneuve plays her best friend and 
co-worker. 

At Cannes, "Dancer" took home top honors, receiving both the Palme d'Or 
and the best actress award for Björk. But the positive response was far 
from universal -- during screenings the film made headlines when it was 
loudly booed by members of the audience. Behind-the-scenes drama, 
culminating in Björk's refusal to appear with von Trier at the film's 
official press conference, also got its fair share of coverage. 

Fine Line Features, the film's U.S. distributor, is doing its best to 
use the Cannes hoopla to its advantage with a "Love It, Hate It, See It" 
campaign, but it seems unlikely that the Stateside debut of "Dancer in 
the Dark" will stir up as much trouble, as press screenings in the days 
leading up to the premiere featured few walkouts and no catcalls. The 
relatively smooth arrival can be accredited in large part to the absence 
of von Trier (who refuses to fly), whose mere presence at a press 
conference seems to incite some European journalists to violent 
outbursts. (It doesn't hurt that members of the American media are 
considerably more subdued.) 

Björk made the decision to act in the film only after composing the 
film's music, which she had been working on with von Trier for about a 
year before production began. "It started when Lars began to suggest 
other actresses for the role," she said. "By that point I had gotten to 
know this woman so well, and I felt like it wouldn't really be acting 
for me. The decision was more about loving Selma, protecting her. Of 
course, it also had a lot do with the fact that I saw her as an 
extension of my songs, and if I went home before production started, 
that would be the same as leaving something unfinished. I've never done 
that before." 

In fact, while much has been made about how Björk's lack of formal 
acting training often left her emotionally vulnerable on the set, the 
performance itself was not what caused the often divisive atmosphere 
between her and von Trier. "When I was alone with Lars, it was OK, but 
the chaos with the music was what made it difficult. The real problems 
didn't arise until we were well into production," she explained. "We'd 
been filming every day for months, and when I'd come to the studio and 
find that the crew had chopped up my tunes in order to make the musical 
numbers work for the next day's scenes, I just kind of lost it. These 
people had never worked with music before." 

Tension came to a head when Björk walked off the set for five days in 
the middle of production. (Deneuve had flown in from Paris to shoot for 
one day, only to find that the scenes she was supposed to work on had 
been indefinitely postponed; she promptly flew back to France.) When 
Björk finally returned, she brought with her a "manifesto" that, when 
signed by von Trier, would give her full control over all aspects of the 
music. Von Trier agreed to the terms and shooting resumed, but the 
damage to the relationship was done. 

Despite their disagreements, Björk can still empathize with the 
director, who, like her, prefers to work in a controlled environment. 
"Lars has been making films for 20 years with a small group of friends, 
and in that sense we're quite similar," she said. "Neither of us is 
familiar with having our atmosphere disrupted." 

Since production finished, Björk has stated repeatedly that she will 
never act again. She insists, however, that her decision should not be 
interpreted as criticism of von Trier. "What nobody really understands 
is that I never wanted to act -- it was because the project was so 
attractive creatively that I made an exception," she said. "I want to 
make very clear that my decision has nothing to do with this film being 
difficult. I took the role because I enjoy challenges. I'm quite 
attracted to the tough stuff." 

While Björk was reluctant to definitively close the door on her acting 
career ("You can never really plan things," she said with a smile), 
music undoubtedly will remain her medium of choice. "I still feel like I 
can be most generous in a music studio," she said. "It's a special 
talent to be a performer, but it's very different from the desire to 
create things from scratch. The people who make new stuff are too 
idiosyncratic to become other people's tools effectively," she added. 
"It's important to understand how you function best."