The lastest Lars von Trier movie. Must admit LvT does nothing for me. I've not seen many of his films and the ones I have seen, I have never mad
e it all the way through. I thought Melancholia was going to be a chore or penance in the way The Tree of Life was. How wrong I was.
You have to relax into the pace which is very luxuriously moderated, like there is all the time in the world. Ironic really. Melancholia takes place in the five days before the end of the world. We are at Kirsten Dunst's (Justine) and Alexander Skarsgaard's (Michael) wedding reception when Kirsten notices a red star in the sky and asks her brother in law (Kiefer Sutherland) about it. He tells them that the star is doing a flyby, so will be in the Earth's orbit for a few days, then go on it's merry way.
To give you an idea of the pace, the wedding takes up the first 45 minutes of the movie. During this time, the characters are established. Kirsten seems a little "off" or "sideways" to put it
mildly. It transpires that she suffers from melancholia - a non specific form of depression
which she tries to describe to various family members, but the film evokes Kirsten's feelings very well. In the beginning it seems as if Kirsten is just an ungrateful, selfish, vain cow. John Hurt is Kirsten's eccentric father and Charlotte Rampling is the aggressive, self-centred mother - amazing that she hasn't completely lost her mind. Charlotte Gainsbourg is Justine's sister Claire who holds everything together in her family. She takes care of everyone in a very measured performance.
As we move away from the party, the red star Melancholia becomes an obsession. Unlike most disaster movies, this is psychological in nature so it centres only on Justine, Claire, Kiefer and their child. It becomes more and more claustrophobic as the tension grows and Melancholia comes nearer. After day 2, the power goes out, so there is no contact with the outside world and Kiefer doesn't want to worry Claire, so tells her that the planet will reach a peak then recede away from Earth. When Claire realises that this is not the case, she becomes survivalist seeking out other people, but by then it is too late and Justine doesn't help as
she thinks this is just fate.
The film is beautifully shot and crystal clear. All the performances are excellent, but Kirsten and Charlotte G stand out. Melancholia is 2 hours and 10 minutes which is just about right - any longer and I think we would have all started to feel suicidal as the mood infects the audience as well. It draws us all in and in the end, we want Melancholia to hit, so that we can have some release.
