David O'ConnellMIFF 2011: Melancholia
July 24th 2011 00:56
I didn’t hate Melancholia. There’s only one other Lars von Trier film I can say the same about - Breaking the Waves (1996). For the provocative director’s latest film, a drama that wavers between brilliance and stretches of tedium, he’s assembled a first rate cast for an opening that takes place at a post-wedding reception on an opulent estate. Though Justine (Kirsten Dunst) has just tied the knot, not all is well. She’s suffering from an undefined malaise, a strange psychological state that increasingly threatens to spoil the celebrations.
In time clarification comes from the sci-fi context von Trier encapsulates his story in: a planet named Melancholia has emerged from behind the sun and threatens extermination should its path cross that of Earth. Justine‘s mental deterioration, an acute melancholia it would seem, intensifies as the disaster becomes imminent.
Dunst has perhaps never given a better performance, especially through the film’s first half. But character’s apathy becomes alienating and less empathetic as she fades into the background. I’ve never warmed to Charlotte Gainsbourg who plays Justine’s distressed sister Claire; there’s an intellectual aloofness about her that has always made her inaccessible to me. The second half suffers because of this, slowing down and losing focus as she becomes the centre of attention.
Von Trier’s often high-minded approach, creating outlandish artistic statements, is thankfully held in check here, though a couple of unnecessary, provocative-for-the-sake-of-it moments couldn’t be resisted. The end result is something far less divisive and audience friendly. Filled with stunning imagery, thanks to D.P. Manuel Alberto Claro, and an overpoweringly beautiful yet bleak final moment, Melancholia (2011) is a very fine but still flawed work.
| 57 |
| Vote |
subscribe to this blog
Comment by Bryn
Horrorphile
Comment by David O'Connell
20/20 Filmsight
Screen Fanatic