Melancholia - Film review

Director: 

Lars von Trier

Writer: 

Lars von Trier

Stars:

Kirsten Dunst, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Kiefer Sutherland and Alexander Skarsgard

Overall rating

    

Plot 
The story revolves around the relationship of two sisters (Dunst and Gainsbourg), who find their relationship even more strained after a mysterious planet called Melancholia threatens to collide with the Earth.

The film starts with the wedding of Justine (Dunst) and Michael (Skarsgard). The atmosphere is tense; Justin's mother clearly disapproves of any wedding; Justin somehow find it difficult to enjoy her wedding, which also frustrates her sister Claire and her husband John (Sutherland) as they have paid for the entire extravagant wedding. Justine does not seems to be very interested in neither her wedding and her guest, nor does she show much love towards her new husband, who is deeply saddened when his pricey gift for Justine, does not really seem to interest her. (come on Alexander is a sweetie! ) It does not become very clear why Justine feels the way she does, but there is a reference made to the to mysterious planet Melancholia. (I also read that the planet is an overall symbolism for depression, which makes sense) A planet that seems to have affected Justine, but also the animals around her. As a viewer you do not know that the threat of Melancholia is known for quite some time, but this becomes clear when Claire has conversations about this with John, a man with a more than average knowledge of the solar system. Claire is extremely worried about the so-called "Dance of Death" of the two planets, but John reassures her that Melancholia will not hit the Earth and that she should stop looking at scientific researches discussing the "Dance of Death".
The rest of the film focusses more on the planet and anxiety of Claire and John, and the lack of anxiety of Justine. 

 

It is hard to find trailers that do not spoil the entire film. I think this one does a decent job 

Personal opinion
At first I really had a difficult time to really get into the storyline of the film! the first time I watched it, I even switched it off, because a great part of the film takes place at the wedding. I did not see the point in that. But perseverance pays off! The atmosphere of the film is hair-raising and intimate. Von Trier barely uses music, the camera follows the characters (especially Justine) and you can even hear the actors breath, which gives the film an overall tense feeling. Luckily the anxiety of Claire is not annoying nor is it overdone (maybe due to director who is from Denmark and not the US).
The idea of a planet possibly hitting Earth (even if it is unlikely) haunted me since! I even had a nightmarish dream about it haha! So I can make the conclusion that the film made quite the impression!The music in the film is also absolutely magnificent!

Why you would love/hate this film
Even if you dislike Kirsten Dunst (which I do) you could overcome that negative feeling and like the film. If action films are the thing for you, don't watch it. If you like happy films, don't watch it (but you probably guessed that by the title). it is a slow-moving film and things are not clearly stated, so you probably have to "read" between the lines to capture every detail, but I love that in films!
I also recommend you skip this film if you dislike art-like films. Some call it nihilism, I call it art!