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The Dancer Upstairs

The Dancer Upstairs

Crime · Drama · Romance · 2002

A police detective in a South American country is dedicated to hunting down a revolutionary guerilla leader.

Movie details

The Dancer Upstairs

“An honest man caught in a world of intrigue, power and passion.”

2002 Crime · Drama · Romance 2h 12m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.1 / 10

Community rating

A police detective in a South American country is dedicated to hunting down a revolutionary guerilla leader.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over The Dancer Upstairs?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Where it lives

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

John Malkovich

Written by

Nicholas Shakespeare

Javier Bardem

Javier Bardem

Agustín Rejas

Juan Diego Botto

Juan Diego Botto

Sucre

Laura Morante

Laura Morante

Yolanda

Elvira Mínguez

Elvira Mínguez

Llosa

Alexandra Lencastre

Alexandra Lencastre

Sylvina Rejas

Oliver Cotton

Oliver Cotton

Merino

Luís Miguel Cintra

Luís Miguel Cintra

Calderón

Court is in session

Put The Dancer Upstairs on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Sentimental Softie

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.

The prosecution The Cool Ironist

“The strings are showing.”

Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.