dir. Lars von Trier
Rating: ✮✮✮1/2
Lars von Trier's latest plays like Antichrist's stately older
sister--the same bleak nihilism and despair is at work, but here it is
delivered with gorgeous romance imagery and Wagner instead of snipped
lady parts and gynocidal immolation.
The film is divided into a Prelude and two parts, "Part I: Justine" and "Part II: Claire", with the prelude being a stunning succession of ultra slow-motion imagery set to Wagner's prelude from "Tristan and Isolde." It's an unforgettable bit of filmmaking. "Part I" is where problems crop up. Essentially a farcical wedding black comedy, it's severely undercut by von Trier's arch dialogue and the simple fact that, as he made perfectly clear at the Cannes press conference for this film, his sense of humor is not in any way funny. One running gag with Udo Kier refusing to look at Kirsten Dunst gets some chuckles, but the rest falls curiously flat.
But then comes "Part II", in which we watch Charlotte Gainsbourg and Kirsten Dunst give terrific, career-best performances as they become trapped and isolated in their sprawling castle estate whilst the titular planet hurtles toward the Earth. As someone who sometimes suffer from depression themselves, this reviewer sympathized greatly with the film's authentic depiction of the way depression manifests itself in irrationally fearful and reckless behavior, constantly alienating those around you and making even simple daily tasks unbearably difficult--not to mention the occasional cruelty you can spit out at people who love you. In that respect, Dunst nails her role, but the real showcase performance here comes from Gainsbourg, whose descent into anxiety and despair is heartwrenching; a scene where she desperately tries to flee the estate and starts breaking down as every method of flight fails is powerful indeed.
As with Antichrist, this is an extremely frustrating film that brings up big ideas few others would touch--here, as with the former, it's the notion that all life on Earth is evil, corrupt and predatory and deserves to be destroyed, and that there is no other life in the entire universe; when our planet is destroyed there will be no one around to mourn our passing. Melancholia deals with these themes in an oblique, indirect manner that will be familiar to von Trier fans, and while one wishes he would tear into his preoccupations a bit more (he is really the only director working whose films are sincerely nihilistic, not just fashionable posing), Melancholia is still a monument to his incredible skill as a master visualist and to the talents of his actors.
The film is divided into a Prelude and two parts, "Part I: Justine" and "Part II: Claire", with the prelude being a stunning succession of ultra slow-motion imagery set to Wagner's prelude from "Tristan and Isolde." It's an unforgettable bit of filmmaking. "Part I" is where problems crop up. Essentially a farcical wedding black comedy, it's severely undercut by von Trier's arch dialogue and the simple fact that, as he made perfectly clear at the Cannes press conference for this film, his sense of humor is not in any way funny. One running gag with Udo Kier refusing to look at Kirsten Dunst gets some chuckles, but the rest falls curiously flat.
But then comes "Part II", in which we watch Charlotte Gainsbourg and Kirsten Dunst give terrific, career-best performances as they become trapped and isolated in their sprawling castle estate whilst the titular planet hurtles toward the Earth. As someone who sometimes suffer from depression themselves, this reviewer sympathized greatly with the film's authentic depiction of the way depression manifests itself in irrationally fearful and reckless behavior, constantly alienating those around you and making even simple daily tasks unbearably difficult--not to mention the occasional cruelty you can spit out at people who love you. In that respect, Dunst nails her role, but the real showcase performance here comes from Gainsbourg, whose descent into anxiety and despair is heartwrenching; a scene where she desperately tries to flee the estate and starts breaking down as every method of flight fails is powerful indeed.
As with Antichrist, this is an extremely frustrating film that brings up big ideas few others would touch--here, as with the former, it's the notion that all life on Earth is evil, corrupt and predatory and deserves to be destroyed, and that there is no other life in the entire universe; when our planet is destroyed there will be no one around to mourn our passing. Melancholia deals with these themes in an oblique, indirect manner that will be familiar to von Trier fans, and while one wishes he would tear into his preoccupations a bit more (he is really the only director working whose films are sincerely nihilistic, not just fashionable posing), Melancholia is still a monument to his incredible skill as a master visualist and to the talents of his actors.
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