prologue played out to the sound of Wagner’s Tristan & Isolde that sets the
tone of this powerfully dramatic story told in two parts named after two sisters.
The first is Justine, who is a severely disturbed
and melancholic bride, struggling to get through the lavish Wedding Party that
Claire her older officious sister has taken great pains in organizing. It’s in the glorious setting of a luxurious
country club owned by Claire’s wealthy husband John, whose patience with the family
he married into gets stretched to breaking point. The very odd cast of guests
include Gaby, the pathological bitter mother, Dexter the lecherous father with
his two girlfriends both called Betty, Jack the father of the groom who’s also
Justine’s Ad Agency employer and who’s obsessed with pursuing her just for a campaign
tag line. And then there is Michael the
unfortunate groom who has to stand on the sidelines as his bride, and
ultimately his brand new marriage, slowly comes apart at the seams in front of
his very eyes. On the way to the wedding
Justine spots a bright red star in the sky, which John, a passionate
astronomer, tells her is the planet Melancholia.
sister is taking care of Justine who has suffered a total mental collapse. And the rogue planet that was just a speck in
the sky is now looming large and set to collide with Earth. The sisters roles
are somewhat reversed as the fatalistic Justine calmly faces the prospect of impending
doom, whilst more realistic Claire becomes increasingly distraught as
the planet gets closer and closer.
movie from the enigmatic Danish auteur Lars Von Trier had me hypnotically on the edge of
my seat right up to the end of the world.
Literally. It’s a powerful and provocative piece that is both a deeply
disturbing and uncomfortable study of an earth that Von Trier seemingly wants to dispense
with entirely, and its also an utterly magnificent work of art.
metaphors peppered throughout the whole piece, you’ll need to read a much more esoteric
review for that (NY Times?). But I do think that this
is such an intense and multi-faceted piece that it will inevitably not be seen
and interpreted by any two people in the same way.
Acting Award at Cannes, and although Charlotte Gainsbourg looked nothing remotely like
her, convincingly played her humorless sister Claire. The rather superb cast included Charlotte
Rampling, Stellan Skarsgaard, and his real life son Alexander Skarsgaard, John
Hurt, Keiffer Sutherland, and Udo Kier
as the extremely annoyed (and funny) Wedding Planner.
filmmaker’s work (loved ‘Dancer From The Dark’ though) and the controversy around
his infamous tasteless remarks at Cannes which went viral has maybe colored
some peoples judgments on the movie itself.
There are evidently only two camps.
Those who hate Melancholia and those that unequivocally love it, I am so firmly in the latter.
2nd half really needs editing etc) and its baffling and even confusing in parts, BUT it has the best end of the world that I
have EVER seen ….. and unique work as mind-blowing and as outstanding as this are few
and far between. It should be seen …. even
if you sadly do end up hating it.
★★★★★★★★★★
