New World (2000) – Björk

As an epilogue to Selmasongs, the soundtrack to Lars von Trier’s 2000 film Dancer In The Dark, “New World” is a swan song of sorts for Selma (portrayed by Björk), a factory worker who is going blind. Preparing to experience a new world through her remaining senses, she is saying farewell to sight, anxious about her future, yet taking delight in her heightened sense of hearing and taste and touch and smell. With soothing “ooOOooh”s that ameliorate the adversity, she heralds “a new world / a new day to see,” sustaining soaring notes that assuage the soul. It turns out that blindness has enlightened her to the beauty of life found in the details. In cinematic strokes, an august orchestral procession accentuates her growing sense of peace, each new revelation an anodyne for her impending loss. A lysergic beat parades in measured strides as Selma’s fate unfurls toward its denouement. As the vibrant colors of life fade from her vision, the world of sound is reverberating within her.

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See also "I Remember You" (1993) - Björk