Customer Reviews

Melancholia

5 star:		(44)
4 star:		(21)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(22)

 

 

I've read some of the reviews here and I think a lot of people are looking at this film in a wrong perspective. The idea for the film originated during a therapy session Lars von Trier attended during treatments for his depression. The therapist told him that depressive people tend to act more calmly than others under heavy pressure, because they already expect bad things to happen. It's not about science fiction and it's not a disaster movie. It's a film that examines the human psyche during a disaster. The film is very subtle and yes slow at times but as someone whos struggled with severe depression I related to and understood Kirsten Dunst's character so much. We're dealing with such flawed and sad characters so the slow pace made sense. I would say this is more of a psychological drama than anything else. This film is so beautiful and the acting is superb.

This is, hands down, THE most beautiful film I have ever seen. I'm sorry, articulation is not my strong point, but all of these one star reviews... baffling. I cannot imagine we were watching the same film. Von Trier has taken existential dread to new heights with this one. Everybody's worst fear, fully realized right there on the screen...

"Melancholia" may be the most accessible Lars Von Trier film I've ever seen. (However, for a director who often goes out of his way to alienate, repulse, and irritate his audience, that is not saying much.) "Melancholia" is beautifully shot and visually lovely to look at; gone is the difficult visual minimalism of films like "Dogville". Also gone is the gory brutality that is often part of Von Trier's films (especially his last film, "Antichrist".) "Melancholia" is a thoughtful, fascinating film told in two distinct, yet overlapping, parts.

The first part, "Justine", is a realistic, sad family drama which tells the story of a young bride who implodes on her wedding day. Just married to a handsome man, promoted by her boss, and treated to a lavish party by her rich brother-in-law, Justine has every reason to be happy. Except she's not. Behind her forced smile, she's hiding a dark depression. By the end of the night Justine's depression, along with the selfishness and dysfunction of those around her, cause her to destroy both her brand new marriage and her career, and spiral into a dramatic depressive breakdown. Von Trier seems to have a deep interest in female protagonists who are being crushed by the expectations of those around them. In films like "Breaking the Waves" and "Dancer in the Dark", the characters were treated to sordid and gruesome abuse, but in the first half of "Melancholia", Justine is a more or less ordinary person suffering in a more conventional and relatable way.

The second part of the film, "Claire", puts the focus on Justine's older sister. Claire is concerned about the reports in the news that a previously unknown planet, named Melancholia, will be passing close to the Earth's orbit. While most scientists believe that the planet will pass at a safe distance, there are those who also believe that an imminent collision will mean the end of the world. Claire's anxiety about the situation builds as the planet comes closer. Claire is also dealing with her sister's (Justine) post-wedding nervous breakdown. As the planet grows ever closer to Earth, the tension builds, until the characters are left to deal with the very real possibility that the world is going to end.

By splitting the film up into two parts in this way, "Melancholia" explores the themes of loss, destruction, impermanence, and loneliness, first on an intimate scale ("Justine") and then on a global scale ("Claire"). Although the film is provocative and often painful, it's more subtle and nuanced than any of Von Trier's other films I've seen, and perhaps more affective.

Before I begin, if you are one of those Transformers loving people, RUN FROM THIS MOVIE!!

Kirsten Dunst's performance in this film is nothing short of extraordinary..she really knew how to portray depression in the most honest way. The opening scene reminds me (somewhat) of Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey. The main focus of the film is not the eventual apocalypse, but the various reactions portrayed by the characters. I found this film to be intelligent, surreal, and astoundingly fresh.

Art films, even great ones, will always have their detractors ...with accusations of pretension & the like. I'm not going to insult anyone who didn't like Melancholia with the standard "go watch Transformers or the latest Sandler flick" attitude. That's why they make 31 flavors. Besides, I love a good popcorn movie as much as anyone. But I kinda feel bad for the bashers of this film in the same way I feel bad for those who don't enjoy Mozart along with their Nirvana. And this is an orchestral, majestic art-house masterpiece ...full of beauty, pain, immorality, love, lust, fear & a dash of sci-fi. What a departure from LvT's usual shock treatment. It stayed in my thoughts for days.

Even if they didn't like it, I can't imagine a real movie lover not at least seeing the craftsmanship in this movie. I just can't take seriously any one-star reviews of this. I think those ratings are a backlash from the rather arrogant "go watch Transformers instead" type comments from the artsy crowd. So if you didn't get into this, that's cool. But the one-star "worst movie ever" reviews have zero cred.

Von Trier's latest, "Melancholia" is certainly a departure from the typical. Looking at its origins (in Von Trier's own bouts with depression), one can't help but see the poignancy in both the story told through the characters, and in the beauty of the cinematography.

Action-packed, it is not. Science fiction, it is barely. For those who have either experienced depression or have had family members struggle with it, the film is likely to hit home in one way or another.

Not for all, but this movie certainly called to me despite my misgivings about Kirsten Dunst's ability to fulfill this role. I'm glad I rented it, and if after watching the previews you too feel a compulsion to see what Cannes was raving about, I'd strongly recommend the rental.

Strengths: Cinematography, Acting, Dialogue

Weaknesses: Slow at times, Narrow Appeal

I think this is one of the most beautiful movies I have ever seen. However it is not for all tastes. If you want an easily understandable or fast movie, nothing of Von Trier is for you, even when Melancholia is the less cryptic of his movies. But if you sometime have experienced the attraction force of Melancholia, heavy as a planet, or the hidden beauty of the sadness which arises from to the lack of meaning of everything that lives, Melancholia was made for you.

As another reviewer has said, this film seems to have been misinterpreted by several reviewers. I don't want to say too much because the film works from a tension poised on the unknowable (yet, somehow, certain) future. Dunst carries almost the entire film with the purest presentation of intense depression I've ever seen from an actor. Also, if Sutherland didn't have such a distinct voice (and forehead) I wouldn't have recognized him. That's a good thing, by the way. The visual effects are perfect and that means a lot in a film that isn't effects-heavy. It is all interpersonal tension even though there is the threat of global annihilation. I grade this one 9 stars out of 10 without thinking twice. TOTALLY worth 2.25 hours - every damn minute.

This movie scared me for the first couple of minutes of watching it that I had made a huge mistake in renting it because of the opening sequence, but once it got past that and the story began to unfold I realized the importance of the opening and did not regret it at all. It is a very unusual story, sci-fi drama, that is unsettling at times but these moments are vital to the story that unfolds. I've never seen another movie anything like this, and would recommend it to people who like sort of surreal sci-fi/drama films.

Melancholia is the 11th feature film by Danish writer-director Lars von Trier. Starring Kirsten Dunst and Charlotte Gainsbourg, the film tells the story of two sisters as they deal with depression amidst the revelations of a rogue planet heading for earth. It seems to borrow concepts from Melencolia I, a famous 1513 engraving by Albrecht Dürer. The film borrows its somber mood and mysterious cosmic event occurring in the distance of space. Set to the prelude of Richard Wagner's opera Tristan und Isolde, the film was shot digitally in Sweden. It boasts a supporting cast featuring Keifer Sutherland, John Hurt, Alexander Skarsgård, Stellan Skarsgård, Jesper Christensen, Charlotte Rampling, Brady Corbit and Udo Kier. The film's themes seem to encompass an existentialist conception of life, death and mortality while focusing on depressive issues.

Divided into two parts titled "Justine" and "Claire" (named after the two main characters of the film), the film centers around Justine in the first act. Justine, a young, well-to-do woman with a seemingly perfect life ponders her current situation in which she is at her lavish wedding supplied by her brother-in-law (played by Sutherland). Sinking further and further into depression, Claire picks up the pieces by caring for her sister's every need including simple everyday practices such as bathing. However, by the time part two comes around, the film shifts its focus to Claire and the subplot of a "super-earth" rogue planet dangerously approaching earth. Claire becomes severely distressed by this event and plunges into a panic state of depression caused by her anticipation of certain death. Meanwhile, Justine, now aloof more than ever, has partially risen from her depression and shows a sense of indifference to an impending doom.

The highlights of the film come through its visuals. Beautifully shot and well orchestrated in between Richard Wagner's masterpiece, Melancholia emerges as one of the year's most poignant pictures. Its opening sequence, which gives away the ending of the film, is possibly the most stunning of the entire film. Gorgeous cinematography, slow motion shots and picturesque movements provide the key to an astonishing sequence. The film's final moments are also quite eye-catching. However, the film at times lacks the dialogue needed to move along the slow parts. The performances of Dunst and Gainsbourg are noteworthy. But some may find the film's tone to be too depressing or feel that like The Tree of Life, a similar film by Terrence Malick, that the entire setup is pretentious and boring. Peter Bradshaw, critic for The Guardian, questions whether the film was convincingly written, directed or acted at all.

For a Lars von Trier fan, Melancholia will probably emerge as a masterpiece and by many accounts, it does have the inner-makings of a dramatic classic. However, it fails to create an attachment to the main characters the way Dancer in the Dark or Dogville did. And while it's a far cry away from the bloodcurdling Antichrist, it isn't as moving as it tries to be. This is mainly due to the lack of appealing personalities presented to the audience. The screenplay also seems rather lightweight for its subject matter. Nevertheless, Melancholia is a worth-while film that is largely made up of triumphant moments. Those moments are almost poetic, certainly beautiful and not to be missed. Indeed, an entire subset of viewers will deride Lars von Trier's work as melodramatic, pretentious and in some cases misogynistic. However, they fail to appreciate the beauty of his work and the inspired moments he is lucky enough to conjure up. Melancholia is simply one of Lars von Trier's better films.