Devastatingly, achingly, wonderfully beautiful...

I just finished watching Dancer in the Dark, and I know I'm a bit late in watching this movie (okay, 6 years), but there are some movies you have to ease into and watch in your own time. For example, I haven't watched Boys Don't Cry because I know that will be a tour de force. It was the same with this movie. The only reason it's here and I watched it is because I bought it about 4 months ago on VHS at a Japanese video store for about 500 yen. Honestly, how could I not?

Dancer stars Bjork as a young Central Europeon woman who immigrates with her son to America in the 1950's. She's hardworking, has an amazing spirit, and is going blind. And the tragedy is that her son will suffer the same fate due to a genetic condition. However, there is hope for him in the form of an operation he must get by the time he is 13, but he must never know of her condition, or his own fate as it will exacerbate it. I won't go into details because it's something that should be experienced first hand, but the character development and story arch is one I haven't seen in a very long time. It is exquisitely heartbreaking and I haven't cried that much because of a film since Schindler's List and Requiem for a Dream. The emotional devestation is sublime and aching, but such a thing should not be missed. See it, for its atypical style, its moving story, and lush, affecting lyricism.

While I'm on the subject of reviews, I will also wholeheartedly recommend The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro. I haven't seen the film (yet), but from what I've heard, I am sure that it will do justice to the book. Remains is a story of a kind of love that is more sorrowful than one that is unrequited for it is unacknowledged. It revolves around an English butler and a maid who spend years of their life in service and have a sense of obligation to to a Lord and a house, but not to themselves. It is written like how a beautiful ballet is performed. And while the climax is anything but, it is still heartwrenching and cardiac stopping. I loved this book for its restraint and it left me wanting, just like its characters.

Love is love. It's inside me and everywhere.