With some extremely beautiful moments and really aesthetically accomplished sequences, the director Lars von Trier made a film, a portrait, about depression, about human psychology at the end of the world. Two significant performances, by Kirsten Dunst and Charlotte Gainsbourg, are keys in order to accomplish this.
A planet called Melancholia is approaching the
Earth and threatening to destroy it. In a beautiful location, Justine held her
wedding with her sister and family. The party suffered many delays and Justine
does not hide her unhappiness with her actions.
From this point on, Von Trier divides its film into two parts. The first focuses on the wedding and reception held in the mansion of Justine's sister. She is the backbone of this story. The happiness that she shows hours after getting married with her new husband Michael (Alexander Skarsgård) is reflected in the way they look at each other, the way they kiss, how they touch, all this joy on their faces, in their eyes. But all this we are appreciating, all this gradually becomes a lie, into a false feeling in order not to show what they really feel, and this is let go freely as the banquet goes on, and not just in her actions.
The whole family has fears, burdens, and
anxieties. All joys turn into sorrow: Von Trier is teaching us the darker side
of all the characters. The mother, the father, the brother who is given life by
the great Kiefer Sutherland, everyone is influenced by the fear of life. In
this first half, Von Trier barely mentions the approach of “Melancholia” to the
planet Earth, but we see each character trying to escape their fears, to live
their last days as best as possible.
Justine is coming back to the mansion days after her wedding. She is nobody, she has no strength to live, and everything is depression. The end of the world is coming and she does not care. Clare however suffers the bitterest side of loss of life on earth. She is frightened, anxious about the impending impact of “Melancholia” over our planet. She tries to protect herself, be strong, but as time goes on she sinks into a dark pit of suffering. And this is when Claire, as if influenced by the blue planet, is recovering her sanity and strength to face what is coming, the end of the world.
The image of the filmmaker Lars Von Trier is
both controversial and important, respected within the film world. In 1995, the
manifesto that he signed with Thomas Vinterberg ,which was blessed as Dogma 95,
showed not only a radical new form of filmmaking but also a debate within these
directors.
His last film, "Melancholia", is now
build away from many of the statements of the dogma movement, but the beauty of
the film contrasts with the ability of its director, and its main actor,
Kirsten Dunst, whose work earned her the Best Actress award at the “Cannes film
festival”: her feelings, her expressions, everything that she reflected in her
gestures, in her disturbing eyes.
The origin of "Melancholia" is the intention to capture various aspects of depression, a disease suffered by the director when he devised this film. As we approach the destruction of the world, Lars von Trier aims to analyze the characters and reactions, showing the main one, who suffers depression, as the calmest of all, opposed to her sister and brother.
The role of the two sisters is another central
element of the film, which has its origin in an idea presented by Penelope
Cruz, after being in constant contact with the director; in fact, she was
offered first the leading role. These first ideas, in conjunction with a
doomsday scenario, Wagner's music and some images of extraordinary beauty,
build up a master scenario for a master piece.
It is undeniable that the film has some memorable moments. The opening sequence in slow motion, showing the destruction of the world, is magnetic, as well as the final.
In the middle there are other captivating
images, something that Lars von Trier has focused on this time, making it an
aesthetically beautiful film. Besides, the style that Von Trier employs is
combining majesty with a quasi-attempt of realism by using a handheld camera,
which works on several occasions.
Away from the big apocalypses that Hollywood
gives us over and over, the Danish filmmaker shows us the inside of the human
beings before the end of life, their fears, their passions, their agony, their
sadness and their “melancholia” when it’s time to let everything go away.
It is an apocalyptic film from the guts of the
human beings. It's a wonderful film that gives us some impressive images and
where the photography is carefully taken in attention to the very last details.
Von Trier is still and will keep being one of the most influential directors in
recent years. His films speak for themselves. Also, this movie signs the best
performances of Gainsbourg and Dunst, who is shown more beautiful than ever,
naked in the blue light of the “Melancholia” planet. So beautiful and enigmatic
as the apocalypse that is to come.
Director: Lars von Trier
Writer: Lars von Trier
Stars: Kirsten Dunst, Charlotte Gainsbourg and
Kiefer Sutherland
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