Melancholia (2011)
Summary
Genre: DramaGoodies:
+ The film was an interesting metaphor for how we live our lives and how we deal with deathBaddies:
- Weird film, odd acting, and overall too trippy for general audiences.Two sisters find their already strained relationship challenged as a mysterious new planet threatens to collide with the Earth
It is more important to read the review rather than look at the score. If I were to score the movie purely based on the view of a film, it was a weird film that would probably get a 5/10, but as an allegory, Melancholia is beautiful and suspended in time. The first 15 minutes are very off-putting in a “too artsy for art, experimental video” kind of way that Von Trier always tries to entrap folks with. Once the movie actually starts, the stage is set of the struggles of a very depressed woman trying to find her way in the world (Justine) and her sister who is trying her best to make everyone else happy (Claire). The film is divided into their two perspectives as the impending doom of planet Melancholia thrusts towards Earth. The first part (Justine) details the events of a wedding and the second part (Claire) details the approaching planet. Honestly, the second part was much more interesting and could have served better as a short film. The background of Justine’s depression does not serve as an integral platform to the climax of the film. The film really focuses on how characters deal with their impending doom; thus an allegory of death (could be sways as depression, cancer, etc.). Aside from the first 20 minutes of the film, the visual style of the film is impressive. At times, it is hard to get over Justine’s apathetic configuration, but in the end (when the focus is shifted more towards Claire), the film improves. Looking at Melancholia as a film about death, waiting for death, the dynamics of marriage, children, family, and other interpersonal relationships opens a scope for a truly deep inspection on what it might feel like to know death is coming. I am sure people who have been close to death (which is why I note cancer) can see this film in this light and maybe gain a deeper reflection (or call it bullshit), but the experience I had with the film relates less as a narrative and more as a metaphor. With that said, it was a film, and I wish the actual storyline and function of the plot served a more interesting telling of characters in the situation, but do give some reprieve to the fact that the film was able to illustrate emotion in a very foundational yet profound way. I don’t really know who I would recommend the film to, but if you ar a film buff and want to see something a bit different, Melancholia is worth a watch.
Duly note: it took me 4 sittings to finish this film, mostly due to the fact that I kept falling asleep, but there are parts that are difficult to get through (although I kept going back)
