EDITH KURZWEIL
183
one's feelings in Western countries, and holding on
to
traditional values
and self-restraint in an Eastern environment such as Hong Kong, or the
more subtle influence of their milieus on the respective directors, I found
this romantic mood as idyllic as any explicit love scene. Two married
people find out that their spouses arc having an affair with each other.
During occasional dinners they talk mostly about what their spouses
might be doing, but are dancing around their feelings as a cat might
around her too-hot food. Tenderness plays in Chiu-wai's (Tony Leung)
eyes, Su-Li-shen (Maggie Cheung Man-yuk) hesitates when passing his
door. Careful not to arouse suspicions in their neighbors, they return
separately after having their joint meals; and do not sleep in one bed
even when spending the night in the same apartment in order
IlOt
to
let
anyone suspect their friendship. Their love is ephemeral. When their
spouses return from one of their shared vacations and decide to resume
their married li ves, the mood is shattered, the non-consumed idyll is
over. Its end, eventually, is as mysterious as their love had been-once
again letting honor, convention, and pride rule over their feelings. Even
though it might be said that nothing happens in this slowly paced film,
the tension that something might, and the beauty of the actors and the
photography are riveting the audience to their seats.
Dancer in the Dark
originally captivates us because we try to get
straight the many plot lines; later on because we wonder how this nearly
blind single mother's, Selma's (Bj(irk), unlimited love for her son, Gene,
will manage to save him; and in the end whether or not she herself will
live. A Czech immigrant
to
the United States, Selma works in a tool and
die factory in order
to
amass the sum needed for her son's operation to
cure his hereditary blindness. She decides to supplement her income
with a night job. As she is rapidl y losing her eyesight, Selma finds hope
and sustenance in music and rehearses for the part of Maria in
The
SOl/lid
of
Music-which
she sometimes imagines to be replacing reality.
Selma even refuses her admirer Jeff's (Peter Stormare) offers to drive her
home after work. Her buoyance infects all those she comes in contact
with, especially her co-worker Kathy (Ca therine Deneuve), and her
neighbors Bill (Dave Morse) and Linda (Cara Seymour)-who often
watch Gene while Selma works. After Selma refuses to lend Bill money
(he has lost his job and is afraid
to
tell Linda), he steals it.
In
their ensu–
ing confrontation Bill draws his gun, which accidentally goes off and
kills him. Selma's anger gets the better of her, and she keeps hitting him
after he is dead, and then rushes
to
deposit the money with Dr. Pokorny
(Udo Kier )
to
guarantee Gene's operation. That Bill is a policelllan, and
that Selma gives a false name at the clinic clinches her fate. She is tried
