Movies Reviews

Melancholia – Movie Review 2

By Ron Wilkinson Nov 21, 2011, 15:17 GMT

Director Lars Von Trier takes on an end of the world story like none other. The film will focus on two sisters who find their relationship challenged as a nearby planet threatens to collide into the Earth. ...more

Another film for the record books by the indescribable Lars Von Trier. Yes, a must see for his fans, a good one to give a miss, for others.

The planet Melancholia, ten times bigger than earth, is heading on what appears to be a collision course. If the two planets collide, the effect will be similar to a high-speed collision between a cantaloupe and a watermelon. Neither orb will end up quite the same.

In fact, the resulting splatter and gravitational repacking on existing planets might result in compaction, thermonuclear explosion and another super-nova.

In any event, it is not going to be any social call for humanity. The microscopically thin film of living matter we refer to as homo sapiens that forms an intermittent smear across the surface of our rock will become of no more significance to the universe than random boron molecules falling into the sun, one every million years.

Justine (Kirsten Dunst) is resigned to the end of the earth. Her older sister, Claire (Charlotte Gainsbourg), has nothing but contempt for the entire concept. Nothing will destroy the earth because earth is the home of, well, we humans. Obviously, the master plan is for us to ne here and for earth to be here for us. The wedding must go on, as planned.

As Melancholia proceeds to take up an ever-larger piece of the sky, the wedding celebrants gather amidst the pomp and splendor of a wedding of the rich.

Justine loses interest in the wedding and does some very unladylike things with one of the guests. As a result, her husband to be decides the wedding is not such a great idea. After all, if he only has a day or so left, he may as well not spend it trying to make love to a woman who finds him as sexually attractive as a conger eel.

Claire’s husband, John (Kiefer Sutherland) financed the wedding and is outraged that a planet would consider interfering. The whole planetary miasma seems to be conspiring to make a mess of all the money he spent, so his sister-in-law could be married in style.

Although Claire remains controlled and deadpan in her approach to the end of the world, John is animated. Sutherland’s performance takes us back to Dennis Hopper’s iconic performance as the photojournalist in “Apocalypse Now.” He is infused with that much excitement and drunk with that much positive thinking about the whole affair.

Melancholia will miss earth. Everybody says so. It is nothing more than self-destructive negativity to assume anything else. How can people be so dumb?

Von Trier claims he was in a much happier mood making this film than he was when making his previous flick “Antichrist.” This is very likely, considering “Antichrist” started with the death of an infant son and the subsequent mutilation of hubby Willem Dafoe by supremely psychotic wife Charlotte Gainsbourg. Let us face it, both of these films are seriously depressing tales and are unlikely to appeal to anybody except the hardcore fans of the actors involved.

OK, those fans are many, not to mention the fans that would pay to see a Von Trier film of a rotting corpse. Or a film of the director describing the good points of the Nazi Reich.

Heavy-duty sound track, extracted from Wagner's ''Tristan and Isolde'' opera that lets you know well beforehand that things are not going to end with a picnic in the park. Good photography by award winning DP Manuel Alberto Claro combined with a few well-chosen special effects that are truly spectacular.

Great supporting acting by Alexander Skarsgård, John Hurt and Cameron Spurr as nine-year-old Leo. Leo devises the instrument that tells whether or not Melancholia is truly heading towards earth, or whether people’s minds are playing tricks.

If this idea appeals, find out how to lay your hands on a screening of Abel Ferrara’s atmospheric “4:44 Last Day on Earth” starring Willem Dafoe. There seems to be a sudden interest in the earth’s destruction. This could be the result of bad dreams related to global warming. Perhaps the common unconscious is starting see the handwriting on the wall. Maybe the human race is not going to make it, after all. Or, perhaps, the seeds sown by the global recession/depression are sprouting their vile energy.

Be prepared for the worst and you will not be disappointed. This is a stirring work speckled with spectacular black humor. See it along with Ferrara’s “Last Day on Earth” and decide which appeals the most.

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Directed and Written by: Lars Von Trier
Starring: Kirsten Dunst, Charlotte Gainsbourg and Kiefer Sutherland
Release Date: November 11, 2011
MPAA: Rated R for some graphic nudity, sexual content and language
Running Time: 131 Minutes
Country: Denmark / Sweden / France / Germany
Language: English
Color: Color