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18 Melancholia
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Director: Lars Von Trier
Starring: Kirsten Dunst, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Kiefer Sutherland, Alexander Skarsgård, Stellan Skarsgård
It’s the end of the world as we know it and Kirsten Dunst is… oddly relieved. Lars Von Trier doesn’t make easy films, or nice ones. Sometimes he doesn’t even make good movies, but almost all the time, he makes genuinely interesting ones and Melancholia is no exception. It’s a deliberately wilful piece, grimly mischievous in its approach; literally the first thing we see is the Earth on the brink of destruction. Then, we step over the brink. Then we’re at a wedding…
Von Trier uses the idea of an inescapable global catastrophe to explore what KT Tunstall would refer to as miniature disasters and minor catastrophes, beginning with arguably the most disastrous wedding in recent cinema history, between Justine (Dunst) and Michael (Alexander Skarsgård). What starts as an endearingly ramshackle affair culminates in Justine blowing every relationship she has apart, and the party collapsing in on itself as, in the sky, a star disappears. The film’s second chapter then kicks off, following Justine’s sister Claire and her husband John, as they try and care for Justine. Their relationship, and the resentment they feel for one another, is played out against the imminent flyby of Melancholia , a colossal rogue planet that we’re assured will not hit the Earth. Except, of course, we know better.
Von Trier uses this backdrop of ultimate destruction to play with the small, final moments of humanity making this the grounded, dark twin of pretty much anything Roland Emmerich has ever directed. It’s not an easy movie – Justine is profoundly dislikeable to the point of absurdity for much of the second chapter – and it’s insanely mannered, but it’s also visually and emotionally striking. This is a story about how the world ends, and what we do when we realise there’s nothing we can do. And whilst it’s not always likeable, it’s consistently interesting and challenging.
Best moment: Either the final 30 seconds, or the moment the birds begin to fall and Justine watches electricity arc across her fingertips…
Alasdair Stuart
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