Directed by: Lars von Trier
Run Time: 136 min
Run Time: 136 min
A disaster/sci-fi movie by Lars von Trier? Don't get your expectation too high since this is not your typical summer movie about disaster. Actually it is still a disaster but a psychological one. Melancholia is the name of a planet which has been hiding behind the sun and about to crash the earth.
The opening sequence in extreme slow motion is stunning and open to many interpretation. A montage of meaningless scenes is teasing us about the nature of the film. Von Trier himself is reported having a state of depression while making this film (not to mention his Hitler controversy at a film festival). Unlike most disaster movies that take on a global scale, this one focuses on Justine's (Kirsten Dunst) wedding, her sister Claire (Charlotte Gainsbourg), and Claire's husband, John (Kiefer Sutherland) and located in a mansion.
Since the wedding Justine has shown the symptomps of being uneasy. She went sad for no reason and do unthinkable stuff. Meanwhile the party goes on as if everything is just okay. Eventually the hidden planet of Melancholia is nearing by. What will these people do?
Sure anyone can go at length criticizing the scientifically aspect of this film (where is the global panic? They didn't watch any TV? How come planet that big cannot be detected at all? What about the gravity of the planet that can affect the earth and so on and so on). I think this is not a sci-fi per se but the whole film is a metaphor for human fear of dying with Melancholia, the planet, as the embodiment of the inevitable fear we all must face. It has a nihilistic and depressing tone, but it is not a surprise considering Von Trier's mental condition at the time he made this film. Dunst and Gainsborg did an awesome job as an actress and surprisingly, I enjoy this one than most of Von Trier's other movie.
The opening sequence in extreme slow motion is stunning and open to many interpretation. A montage of meaningless scenes is teasing us about the nature of the film. Von Trier himself is reported having a state of depression while making this film (not to mention his Hitler controversy at a film festival). Unlike most disaster movies that take on a global scale, this one focuses on Justine's (Kirsten Dunst) wedding, her sister Claire (Charlotte Gainsbourg), and Claire's husband, John (Kiefer Sutherland) and located in a mansion.
Since the wedding Justine has shown the symptomps of being uneasy. She went sad for no reason and do unthinkable stuff. Meanwhile the party goes on as if everything is just okay. Eventually the hidden planet of Melancholia is nearing by. What will these people do?
Sure anyone can go at length criticizing the scientifically aspect of this film (where is the global panic? They didn't watch any TV? How come planet that big cannot be detected at all? What about the gravity of the planet that can affect the earth and so on and so on). I think this is not a sci-fi per se but the whole film is a metaphor for human fear of dying with Melancholia, the planet, as the embodiment of the inevitable fear we all must face. It has a nihilistic and depressing tone, but it is not a surprise considering Von Trier's mental condition at the time he made this film. Dunst and Gainsborg did an awesome job as an actress and surprisingly, I enjoy this one than most of Von Trier's other movie.
No comments:
Post a Comment