Melancholia (2011)

Directed by: Lars von Trier
Genre: Drama
Starring: Kirsten Dunst, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Kiefer Sutherland
Running Time: 136 minutes

This Danish art film is based around the complex relationship of two sisters around the time of the wedding of one of them. As they are going through this hard time in their lives, a rogue planet is about to collide with the Earth.

Lars von Trier, who is known for non-conventional films, is true to form with this 2011 opus. The movie starts one with a long artistic intro with no dialogue covered by classical music.  Then, the story is told in two parts, from the point of view of each sister.  From the beginning of part one, you can feel the tension in the air as we go through the wedding of Kirsten Dunst’s character. Even before we know what is going on, we can feel that something is wrong.

It has been said that the director was going through a depressed time in his life and wanted to show how people can fail to react to extraordinary situations when they are is that state of mind.  He did achieve that goal and the actors were convincing in their roles.

That being said, I found this movie a tad long and depressing. Maybe I wasn’t in the right kind of mood, but it did not grasp me fully.  Lots of artistic merit to this film, just not really my thing.

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