Melancholia is a film by Lars von Trier, whom I usually view as problematic spiritually and in the same vein as Thomas Hardy since seeing Breaking the Waves and Dancer in the Dark. Melancholia features a star-studded cast helmed by Kirsten Dunst and Charlotte Gainsborough as two sisters coming to the realization that the apocalypse by planetary bodies colliding is coming. I think that Melancholia is one of von Trier’s best films, but it requires three things from its viewer: first, your complete attention, second, patience, not frustration, with the first half’s events when no one except maybe one character realizes the imminent danger, and third, sufficient time to watch Melancholia two times in a row. If you can do those three things, Melancholia will blow you away.
Melancholia is first and foremost a character study that compares and contrasts the sisters on what is supposed to be the best and worst days of their lives. Melancholia begins with an overture that features various time delay shots that wordlessly summarize the entire movie. Melancholia is divided into two parts: the first part is devoted to Justine, played by Dunst, on her wedding day, and the second part is devoted to Claire, played by Gainsborough, during their final days on Earth. Melancholia is primarily a study of someone who suffers from crippling depression and how the tables are flipped in the face of crisis.
At times, without patience, this focus can be frustrating when such talented actors like John Hurt, Charlotte Rampling and Kiefer Sutherland, whom I normally dismiss as an action TV actor or a villain in feature films, depict the supporting characters. Rampling commands every single scene that she is in. Even Hurt does not stand a chance in her presence, and he has never not given a grand performance. For me, an apocalypse is always more interesting than a wedding no matter how lavish or messy the wedding is so I found it difficult during the initial viewing to become invested in what happened in the first half of Melancholia even though it provides a necessary touchstone for the more dramatic and sensational second half of the film.
As an apocalypse connoisseur, I really appreciated von Trier’s depiction of a planetary collision for several reasons. First, Melancholia focuses on individual human reactions instead of the usual global reaction complete with incessant news reports or radio broadcasts. The family dynamics established during the wedding reception are transformed, solidified or exacerbated and reflect the coming upheaval and destruction wrought by the impending apocalypse. On second viewing, the absurdity and desperation of the wedding rituals, some of which I never even thought was a thing (bean counting, late night onion soup from a food truck, the gift of a razor) seem retroactively imbued with significance as a futile way to stave off death or comfort human beings who have the certain knowledge of mortality regardless of whether a planet is preparing to collide with Earth or not. Melancholia depicts the apocalypse as a very quiet, intimate and personal event.
Second, Melancholia depicts an interesting gender and relationship dynamic. The men of Melancholia are unable to unflinchingly face the reality of any situation whether it is the father who avoids a late night conversation for frivolous, fun interactions, the trio of men, either related fictionally or in real life, who are focused on sex or business and cannot just exist in the moment, or the brother in law who tries to solve problems as a way of coping with them. They always find a way to exit or escape the discomfort of a situation. They cannot face reality. The little boy is understandably living in a land of make believe and imagination. The women of Melancholia, the sisters and their mother, are unable to exist in a fictional world whether they want to or not. Melancholia paints marriage as just another coping device in the face of oblivion that will evaporate whereas the women call each other to account and are forced to deal with discomfort.
Side note: I must confess that I really enjoyed the relationship between Gainsborough and Sutherland, and it may be one of my favorite film marriages ever. There is no exposition that reveals their relationship history, but I imagined that they have been together for a long time just based on the way that the two interacted and the routine of how they discuss other people. Gainsborough was always beside Sutherland before he was successful, and he hates her family, but loves her so he begrudgingly tolerates them. He is pleased with their good fortune and assumed that wealth would solve everything between him and her family. He loves spending time with her and genuinely wants to be with her and his son. The money did not change their relationship. Sutherland is very tender in his physical interactions with Gainsborough and the child. His good fortune in wealth and love becomes a devastating, inadvertent joke and leads to self-condemnation when he cannot solve this final problem and protect those that he loves.
Third, Melancholia is a gorgeous film, and Von Trier purposely references notable paintings, plays and operas to evoke the end of the world. Even if you hate the film, you could watch it without the dialogue and still get the essential meaning of the film. Every apocalypse needs a money shot of epic destruction, and Melancholia soundly trounces Knowing in its complete obliteration of the world. The surreal cinematography and lighting perfectly evoke the apocalyptic end.
Fourth, I finally enjoyed Melancholia’s bleak Biblical magical realism even if it is problematic and self-condemning, which is actually antithetical to the spirit of the Bible. Those living beings closer to nature know about the planetary apocalypse before most of the characters in Melancholia. Human beings are basically animals whose problematic and oversized reactions to certain situations early in the film are subliminal symptoms and unconscious knowledge of the impending disaster. Dunst’s depression is an appropriate reaction to what is unfolding, but people misjudge her until they later become aware, are unable to deny the truth then become undone and unravel when they finally face the truth. “Life on Earth is evil” may be a reference to original sin and reminded me of Hayao Miyazaki’s phrase, “All of humanity’s dreams are cursed.” The wedding is a microcosm of the world. We are incapable of happiness or harmlessly coexisting in the constant face of mortality even when we are at our best.
I enjoyed Melancholia so much that I would see it a third time and regret the fact that time travel does not exist so I could go back in time and see it on the big screen. There is a lot of nudity by Dunst, some profanity and one sexual, but not graphic sexual encounter. If you don’t think that you can tolerate the seemingly vapid first half to push deeper to explore its hidden meaning, I would wait to see Melancholia. Melancholia demands patience, tolerance, attention and time.