An anisotropic dye film having high dichromatic properties is provided.An anisotropic dye film wherein the period d attributable to molecular stacking is at most 3.445 .ANG., and the column length L thereof is at least 105 .ANG.. The anisotropic dye film preferably has a degree of orientation of the molecular stacking axes of at least 85% and a film thickness of at most 30 .mu.m, and is formed by a wet film-forming method. Since it has a molecular alignment suitable to develop a dichroic ratio, it provides high dichromatic properties. A polarizing element having this anisotropic dye film is excellent in heat resistance, light fastness and polarizing performance.