Film Review Four: "Melancholia"

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Melancholia: A Grand Finale

Director: Lars von Trier

Lead Actors: Kirsten Dunst, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Kiefer Sutherland

Distributor: Trustnordisk

Running Time: 130 minutes

            The apocalypse has been portrayed in several films over time. An asteroid is headed toward earth and modern technology comes to the rescue—long live mankind. But, what happens when nothing is there to save the day?

Lars von Trier’s Melancholia.  

            Within the first ten minutes of the film, it is made clear how it is going to end. And, it is these opening moments that are the most extraordinary in the entire work. Justine (Kirsten Dunst) floats down a stream donning a wedding gown and veil, emptily staring into the camera. A horse kneels before a star-filled sky, Claire (Charlotte Gainsbourg) desperately tries to run on an empty golf course clutching her son. What gives one chills is that all of these images, along with others, are in extreme slow motion and combined with a haunting, epic score that is used throughout the film; there is a great sense of restraint, like trying to scream and not being able to utter a sound.

This sense of helplessness is repeated throughout the entire film—coping with the end of the world wouldn’t leave one empowered. The intro sequence is mesmerizing and beautiful, and just as the story is told during this time, so is the general feel of the film.

            It all begins with a wedding, and an unusual one at that. The bride would rather take a bath, roam the golf course or nap than dance and celebrate with her guests. Justine has just married Michael (Alexander Skarsgård) and something is off. She hides from the wedding party, ventures on the grounds of her sister Claire and brother-in-law John’s (Keifer Sutherland) massive property. Claire desperately tries to keep Justine from falling into a bout of panic and depression as Justine expresses that she feels trapped. On her happiest day, she is quite melancholy.

            Yet, this is only Part One.

            A complete role reversal occurs in the second half of the film, and the work takes a new direction. Mastered through the excellent performances of the actor’s, Part Two of the film shifts to Claire’s perspective. While at first the rational force in the sisters’ relationship, she turns into a nervous wreck as Justine takes on a calm attitude of indifference. Claire is frantic over the possibility of the planet, Melancholia, colliding with earth and the end of life as she knows it. John, a scientist, assures her time and time again that the planet is not going to hit. We want to believe his claims just as much as Claire wishes to.  

            The world in the film is an eerie one. Claire and John’s home, where most of the story takes place, is isolated and devoid of a specific location. The characters are distant from any sort of civilization—they are alone. Because of this isolation, the end of the world is that much more frightening. The camerawork creates this sense of alienation in many of the scenes; with almost a documentary feel, there are several zoom-ins on the action, especially character reactions. It’s as if we are visitors to a foreign planet other than our own. It is familiar, yet distant.

            This loneliness exudes from Kirsten Dunst in her excellent performance. She calls life on earth “evil,” and asserts that even planet earth is alone: she states there is nothing else in the vast universe other than human suffering. This gloom, apathy and then acceptance is easy to understand given the situation the characters face. 

This idea is woven into the film’s very structure, a mark of mastery for von Trier.

Part One: marriage. Part Two: paranoia and dread. The union of these two different stories in the same film parallels the idea of union throughout. Justine and Michael’s marriage ends in disaster, just like the collision of Melancholia and planet earth.

Perhaps the best way to describe my personal experience with Melancholia would be of great impact. During the film, I sat awestruck by its sheer magnitude as well as its uniquely beautiful imagery.

The theater was rumbling upon the film’s conclusion, as if the apocalypse was upon the audience members—it was certainly a visual as well as physical experience. I thought about the film for hours—and then days—after I left the theater. The performances given made me contemplate how I would personally deal with the end of the world, and if I agreed with the film’s statements on life. It made me wonder.

 Looking up at the sky upon exiting the theater, Melancholia raced through my mind and on into my dreams. The end of the world, a rather terrifying idea, was brought to the forefront of my thoughts. Lars von Trier, despite his more than questionable statements, made a wonderful film. I never could have imagined the end of the world as being so beautiful.