Melancholia - Lars von Trier

Two sisters’ lives are contrasted dramatically as the planet Melancholia approaches Earth on a "fly by."

I was drawn to this film, thanks to the lush and sumptuous trailer I saw when viewing another art-house flick. It was so visually stunning that I was anxious for more.  I have enjoyed projects by Danish director Lars von Trier in the past, so seeing Melancholia  (at Washington, DC’s Avalon Theater) seemed like a pretty safe bet. Let me clarify that not much at all about the plot was revealed in the trailer. About all that was shown was that Justine, played excellently by Kirsten Dunst, was having an elaborate wedding and things went directly south when her mother gave an acidic speech, cursing the very idea of marriage. The rest of the preview has to do with Melancholia approaching Earth and gorgeous outtakes from the beginning of the movie. As a warning: whereas the hyper-saturated, dreamy, magical visuals in the trailer are breathtaking, nothing alludes to how much of the film these scenes actually occupy.  They end up being a fantastic beginning, which is then dropped for the rest of the film.

As far as the rest of the film goes, the wedding and then the sisters' lives afterwards are the subject matter of the film. I'll stop here with any description of the plot so as not to reveal any spoilers. Suffice to say that this film is a stark drama, through and through, and a very plausible, realistic drama at that (except for the approaching of a planet that had been hiding behind the sun....). The sisters' relationships parallel the attraction and danger of Earth and Melancholia dancing in each others' gravitational pulls. Kirsten Dunst pulls off a career-crowning performance, solidly supported by Charlotte Gainsbourg and Kiefer Sutherland. As is the pattern of the whole film, the wedding celebration starts off as a thing of beauty which then becomes a study in characters clashing. Other than the out-right beauty of the film, it is obvious that quite a bit of thought went into crafting the plot and dialogue. This is not a formulaic film, and although not uplifting, it is refreshing in the face of what else American cinema has to offer. At the end of the film, I did see a lone man smiling as he left the theater. He had a European accent. He allowed as how it was a wonderful film, and it was interesting how the relationships were so toxic without anybody directly being the enemy or bad guy. That is the talent of Von Trier. He is absolutely successful in creating a mood and then experimenting with human nature from there.