Melancholia [Blu-ray]

`Melancholia' is a film that is going to be extremely divisive. Not everyone is going to appreciate this, and yet there are going to be some that laud this as one of the finest films ever made. I can certainly see its flaws, and yet there is this underlying captivating atmosphere that I can't help but wholly appreciate.`Melancholia' is a unique and engrossing experience that is less what it seems and more what you'd come to expect from an auteur as controversial as Lars von Trier.The opening montage of cataclysmic destruction plays out like a Vogue editorial shoot captured in slow motion. It seems almost anticlimactic to show us the end before the beginning, and while I understand that this cinematic trick (or gimmick) is initially rather off-putting and presumes to fail the overall purpose of the film somewhat by showing us the cause of concern before we truly understand the concern building in the key characters, it works in a way that I can't quite explain. I personally was rather upset with the sequence upon watching it, but as the film tied itself together I found myself calling it to mind with awe for I saw how the pieces of that puzzle came together in an unexpected way.And, one cannot forsake its beauty.And then the actual film starts, which is broken into two sections.The first part of `Melancholia' focuses on Justine, the bride. Her lavish wedding begins with promise. Her `filthy rich' brother-in-law has paid for the spectacle to take place at his gigantic home, complete with a butler, an 18 hole golf course and a slew of guest rooms (with baths, not showers). The joyous couple show up late, thanks to an oversized limo and some narrowly curved roads, and then all joy seems to evaporate as Justine's intense depression sets in and begins to erode her happiness. Everyone around her fails to understand her condition, even though most of them try (especially her groom and her sister). Justine seems bewitched by a red star she seems looming overhead; a star that goes unseen by the others. This star sets a strange precedent for the remains of the evening as Justine's behavior becomes more reclusive and catatonic almost.Bridges are burned, relationships are broken all hope is lost.The second half switches focus to Claire, the elder sister. While Justine is certainly suffering from depression, Claire begins to delve into paranoia as the impending collision with the mysterious planet Melancholia grows closer and closer. They don't ever say how much time as elapsed since the wedding, where that `star' first reared its head, but Justine is still sulking in misery and the agitation she caused on that `blessed day' obviously still lingers."It tastes like ashes."With only five days left before Melancholia is supposed to `pass' Earth, Claire and Justine begin to come to terms with the inevitabilities of their futures.At the core of `Melancholia' is a sharply constructed look at mental instability and the effect it has on our own personal survival. Justine's character is of particular interest because her depression, which is initially assumed to stem from the planet traveling towards Earth, is almost eased by the foreknowledge that the end is coming. She possesses a unique bond with the planet, a connection (as seen by her nude moon-bathing) that helps ease her dissention since she is obviously of the accord that life on Earth is corrupted; infected with an evil that, even in its most unintuitive form is still prevalent and contaminating.For her, eradication is a way out of a life she cannot support.From a technical standpoint, `Melancholia' is something special. The imagery is stunning. Lars von Trier has a great track record of using a film's cinematography to eclipse the viewer and sustain his themes. `Antichrist' was a film that suffered in conception and yet it was sustained to a degree thanks to the beautiful and captivating way in which it was shot (not to mention Gainsbourg's phenomenal performance). Here, the night sky is illuminated by cascading stars and eerily shifted cloud structures. Even the murky yet polished way in which the close-ups are rendered is astonishing to watch. I was really taken by the nostalgic score, one that embodied the same sound and atmosphere as the classic apocalyptic and science fiction films. The drama is there, bolded with each swell in the music.Performance-wise, the film belongs to Kirsten Dunst. She is remarkable here. This is a truly restrained and intimate performance, no real showboating or dramatics involved. Instead, Dunst takes a far more realistic look at depression by holding it all in. Sure, she has her crying fits and breakdowns, but she internalizes so much. I'm so happy for her Cannes win, especially since Oscar will most likely look the other way (they like their actresses to SHOW their pain), but I completely concur with many who say this is quite possibly her finest work. She has been one of my favorite actresses for years, and I am so thrilled to see her making some intriguing and rewarding film choices (she should have won the Oscar last year for her tremendous work in `All Good Things'). I also was wholly impressed with Kiefer Sutherland, who dwelled in the skin of his character, adding little touches that made him feel complete as opposed to a mere prop (unlike the younger Skarsgard, who just proved uninteresting). Kiefer portrays an odd warmth, paternal and yet elusively selfish. You can see his colors changing as the film progresses, and his many shades, while never blatant or wholly exposed, haunt long after he's left the screen.In the end, `Melancholia' is probably the strangest `apocalyptic' film you'll ever see, and while it contains certain flaws, those flaws are swallowed and digested by the films ravenous pluses. The pacing is extraordinary (don't listen to the naysayers claiming this film drags, for it most certainly does not) for it allows the impending dread to set it slowly, meticulously, calculated and yet entirely natural so that you feel yourself letting go as you watch Justine and Claire prepare themselves for the afterlife.

This is a qualified 5 - if I could give it 10 for my own tastes, I would. That said, for some, buyer beware. And I guess I'm going to end up addressing my review to people who might rate this movie low because I think you can get more out of it than 1-3 stars when you watch it.If you like Hollywood films and hate art films, obviously, stay away. If you like living in certainty, stay away. But before you do, let me make a small suggestion.Sometimes being unsettled is good. Sometimes feeling bad is good - we should be grateful as human beings to feel depth of emotion - be it happiness OR melancholy.Sometimes you should take a walk. Take a walk when the weather is great. But get out there and take a walk in a blizzard, on a really hot day, or in the rain... or on a foggy night, put on headphones, go out for a walk at 1am and listen to old spooky blues records.The whole POINT of going for a walk instead of staying in your living room where you have everything just the way you like it IS that it is unsettling.The whole, "ships are safest in harbor, BUT THAT'S NOT WHAT SHIPS ARE FOR" and neither are you.So that said, what are you buying into with Melancholia? You aren't getting entertainment, you're getting art.I don't think it is about depression per se. It isn't about "gee, these people are depressed and what should they do about it."I got the distinct impression that Kirsten Dunst's character has some sort of foresight. Not specific knowledge but she feels intrinsically that something is going to go wrong, thus the dumping of the great advertising job that she is brilliant at, the groom, etc. It turns out she isn't feeling depressed, she's feeling ACCURATELY.Which begs the question is depression or melancholy ALWAYS a dysfunction or is it healthy when it is an accurate response to what is going on? Is cheerfulness, teamwork, ambition, confidence, sick in the wrong context? This isn't a movie about "oh gee they're DEPRESSED" which I see in quite a few 5 star reviews as well as 1 stars. Dunst makes the right decisions about her life, drops the career, etc because something horrible is coming and can feel that in light of that, it doesn't mean all that much to her - that's symbolically valid within the movie with the rogue planet coming, but it's valid in actual real life.The fact is, something horrible is going to happen to you.It is coming for you as you read this, waiting somewhere in your future.Certainly death, the deaths of those you love, absolutely, but not just death. It's very likely you'll have your heart broken, lose a good friendship, disappoint yourself, act like a jerk in a way you can never take back, experience the whole gamut of suffering, pain, for yourself and those you love - you will lose things or have horrible things happen or do bad things THAT CAN NEVER BE UNDONE.Ouch, right? But so, so very true.Now, if you want to stay in your living room with everything just so, if walking in the fog at 1am listening to blues records or in the rain, lifting your face to feel it instead of rushing inside sounds insane to you, you are missing out. And besides, your living room won't ultimately save you.What do you do when depression is PERFECTLY JUSTIFIED, the most sane thing? Do you withdraw? Do you rush out to seek other people? But what if other people can't help? How do you, how do others, meet what is most definitely coming? Sorry but this too is part of the human experience. You will be more alive, more human, more compassionate to other humans, with that awareness - less human, less alive without.It's one of those roadtrip/cocktail party questions - what is art? I'll tell you my definition. When you sleep, you dream and process the events of your life symbolically. People kept awake to long start too go kind of batty, can't function well - even if you let them sleep but interrupt only when they start dreaming. Dreaming is the unconscious processing of being alive - of life's experience. You have to do it or you'll literally lose your mind.Art is kind of the same way - it's the semi-conscious processing of human experience of life. Dreaming and art fulfill kind of the same functions - in the months following WW2, in totally bombed-out Germany, while Berlin was still essentially rubble, what did the people there do in the aftermath, as soon as they had their bare, basic needs met? Put on plays. Put little orchestras together and play music. In the RUBBLE. Because they needed to. I suspect we're all a little crazy in this day and age because we instinctively reach for art and get entertainment handed to us instead - sleep instead of dreaming.So anyway, the movie is beautiful. I was about to say "well, it isn't entertainment but it is art" but I remembered, in the 1800's there was a musical subgenre that specifically would be songs about tragically dead children - seriously that was it - people would show up to the concerts in droves, weep, it'd be very cathartic. If THAT was entertainment, I suppose Melancholia is entertainment - depressing films, horror films that ACTUALLY horrify as opposed to make you jump due to a loud sudden noise, are cathartic and entertaining in their own right. Idunno, maybe we in America have a religion that trumps all others and that religion is COMFORT. That makes me feel uncomfortable, which is why I take walks in bad weather and at bad times and watched Melancholia - to take me out of my comfort zone just a little bit.And ah... have some compassion for the people you run into in your life that aren't all sparky and upbeat - psychological studies prove that slightly depressed people perceive reality more accurately than upbeat people. Maybe they're onto something. Non-melancholy is overrated :)