Whenever I’m about to start into a Lars Von Trier movie I definitely have to go in with an open mind, I think everyone does. The four movies I’ve seen directed by him were . . . . . . Memorable, to say the least. I remember back in college, when I was stubborn and set in my ways, I checked out The Idiots and I remember hating it. I remember wanting to punch things very hard after seeing that movie, I thought was portentous dross and it bored the arse off me. Then, I remember sitting down with my father a couple of years later to see Dancer in the Dark, and I remember being absolutely blown away. They’re rare, those moments, when I am proper moved to tears by a film but Dancer in the Dark was one them.
Next was Dogville which I thought was an excellent piece. I thought what he was trying to do with sound stage interesting and it worked, the story was also brilliant. But, then we had the squeamish, depressing experience that was Anti-Christ. A film that was not enjoyable to watch in the slightest and there were several occasions when I wanted to stop watching but I thought the subject matter was really interesting, the subject of loss, loss of child. That topic is very rarely raised and analysed in the intense fashion that it did in Anti-Christ and that’s why I liked it. It was a brilliant movie about something really horrible. I was now ready for Melancholia.
Melancholia was originally released at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, where Lars Von Trier famously said, at the post premier press conference that he sympathy for Hitler and the Nazi, and that he himself too was a Nazi. Obviously, this joke didn’t go down very well and he was kick out of the festival. Feck it, though, people were talking about his film after that and Kirsten Dunst ended up taking home the Best Actress gong. The trailer grabbed me immediately and this was one of the films from Cannes I was eagerly awaiting.
The story is split into 2 parts; first we have Part 1 – Justine. Justine is played by Kirsten Dunst and she and her new husband arrive 2 hours late to their overly expensive wedding reception paid by her rich brother in law, John played by Keifer Sutherland. Before they walk into the reception, Justine gives reference to a star in the sky which is mistaken by John as the Star, Anteraes; this is obviously the first sign of Melancholia. From there, you can cut the tension with a knife as they enter the reception; we are introduced to all the characters at the party one by one. The overly concerned sister, Claire, played by Charlotte Gainsburg, we meet the parents who have nothing to do with each other and make no bones about making that fact clear. Her mother played by Charlotte Rampling, is a self-centred bitch who does nothing but causes tension and when she is asked for help and advice from Justine, she has nothing to offer. The father played by John Hurt, the only character you think is going to come through for Justine but in the end, he just isn’t there when needed. We also meet her slime ball boss play by brilliant Stellan Starsgard and the over the top, wedding planner played by Udo Kier. All of this, with her unassuming new husband who looks as if he is at his wits end and frankly doesn’t know what he has got himself in for.
Part 2 follows the Charlotte Gainsburg character, Claire, Justine’s sister, the story has jumped forward a few weeks, not so long after the wedding and Melancholia is clear in the sky. The world believes that it will just pass by Earth and will be one of the most beautiful sites the world has ever seen but Claire has her reservations as Justine arrives asking for help.
I really enjoyed Melancholia as a film, it was hard work at times but that was what it was meant be like. It is dealing with the subject of depression, and they did it brilliantly, the whole idea of Melancholia as a metaphor for depression, consuming you until it is all you can think of, where you can’t function at times its so bad. Again like, Anti-Christ, it is a brilliant film about something really horrible, it isn’t meant to be enjoyable or easy going. This film is meant to make you feel uncomfortable, it’s meant to make you think about depression and how it affects people, this is not an easy thing to do. All I’ve been hearing for the last couple of days is people saying that this film is Lars Von Trier wanking off. I did not see much wanking there what so ever, I think people just see Von Triers name and they automatically think wanky portentous bollix. But I saw a proper film maker making a well acted, well shot, well scripted piece about a very difficult topic. Obviously, this is a personal theme for not only Von Trier and for some of the actors involved and you saw that on the screen and I have to applaud them. If Kirsten Dunst and Lars Von Trier don’t get nominated for an Oscars, I’ll be shocked.
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