Perspctives - 5 ways Dancer in the Dark is Postmodern

Dancer in the Dark (2000)

1. The movie is shot through a hand-held camera which follows Selma through her life. It sets a realistic tone, during some of the musical pieces the camera switches to static shots for more of a fantasy setting.
2. It deconstructs the the positive themes that Musicals usually represent and represents the sad reality that Selma's life is leading to something unfortunate
3. We learn that Selma day dreams and in these Dream sequences these musical numbers happen which are much more lighter toned compared to the real world, as soon as the musical number finishes though we are harshly brought back to reality which has a darker outcome compared to Selma's daydream.
4. The musical numbers seem quite simple and aren't catchy compared to common Musical numbers, the lyrics also seem to reflect the events that happen, showing that Selma is aware of the situations happening and eventually these songs blend into her real world as a coping mechanism.
5. There's a sense of mise-en-abyme when Selma's fantasy replicates her reality and the transition occurs when a atmospheric sound is on loop queuing her Day dream replication.