Melancholia

The latest of my catch-up films from last year is Lars Von Trier's Melancholia. Part science fiction and part chin-stroker, Melancholia tells a story about the emotional stresses of a wealthy family and how they deal with several types of impending doom. On the one hand, Justine (Kirsten Dunst) is an emotional cripple in danger of ruining her own marriage on her wedding day, on the other hand there is 'Melancholia' - an enormous planet on a potential collision course with Earth. Doom indeed.

The central theme is sort of given away by the film's title. It's about depression, the different sorts of depression people suffer from and how people deal with it in different ways. The first hour of the film shows Dunst's character in a psychological black hole, who is only able to emerge from her mire when Melancholia the planet appears in the skies. Justine's sister is Christine (Charlotte Gainsberg), who is her emotional rock until she becomes convinced that Melancholia is going to kill them all.

Melancholia has a narrative that's far from traditional. It's opening act plays out like an ITV drama complete with small parts from famous names (John Hurt anyone?), middle class angst, lavish surrounds and nookie with the lower classes. In part 2 we switch into vague Outer Limits territory, in which Justine talks openly about some sort of precognitive powers she claims to have and a humongous Chekov's Gun is winched into place to preempt the ending. Characters then react to what has happened and is happening in different ways. Whereas Justine has known true despair in her life and faces Melancholia with a detached calm, the ever-practical John (Charlotte's husband played by Keifer Sutherland) cannot contemplate a world in which scientific certainty is snatched away from him and starts to crack.

It's difficult to know precisely what to think about this film. On the one hand it looks amazing. From the opening super-slow-mo shots to the final scene, the film has a stunningly bright and natural light running through it. On the other hand though the film barely has a plot, is full of holes (why does Justine have an American accent while all her family have British accents?) and could easily be accused of the worst kind of artsy, upper middle class navel-gazing.

Whatever side of the fence you come down on, I think it would be hard to argue that 'Melancholia' is a waste of time. The drama of Act 1 is a very well-acted insight into a family falling apart, and the lighting, cinematography and effects look fantastic. And if nothing else floats your boat about it, Kirsten Dunst does some nude sun-bathing. Which is of course 'artistic', because this is an artsy film and therefore not at all gratuitous.