Lars von Trier courted controversy at Cannes, his misguided humour threatening to overshadow the screening of his latest cinematic offering, Melancholia. Lucky for von Trier, he has produced a film of such beauty…
Lars von Trier courted controversy at Cannes, his misguided humour threatening to overshadow the screening of his latest cinematic offering, Melancholia.
Lucky for von Trier, he has produced a film of such beauty and raw cinematic power that Melancholia will stand alone, staying with viewers far longer than his unfortunate pro-Hitler comments.
Owing to the elliptical structure, the film begins with a dreamy montage of the end of the world. Drawing upon German romanticism and set to Wagner’s eternally beautiful Tristan und Isolde, the apocalypse has never looked so lush.
After the titular planet Melancholia collides with the earth we are returned to life some time prior to the collision and introduced to principle characters, the newly wed Justine (Kirsten Dunst) and her older sister Claire (Charlotte Gainsbourg).
Though Justine initially appears every bit the bubbly bride, her facade rapidly disintegrates and it becomes clear that she suffers from a long term depression which effects those around her.
Claire appears to be the most together member of her family, juggling looking after her incapacitated sister with appeasing her husband (Kiefer Sutherland), and looking after her young son. Claire’s tenuous grip on life begins to slip as she is taken over by a sense of foreboding over the planet Melancholia’s supposedly benign fly by earth. While Melancholia’s menace begins to loom large it becomes apparent that Justine is unperturbed by the threat it poses to life on earth, while those with so much to live for begin to unravel at the seams.
While the subject matter may be dark, and von Trier no stranger to challenging cinema, Melancholia is far more palatable to a mainstream audience than his work has been in recent years. Brief moments of humour, courtesy of an over-the-top wedding planner (Udo Kier) and Kiefer Sutherland’s impeccable performance as the long suffering husband, break up the otherwise bleak tone of the film, injecting a warmth lacking in more abstract scenes.
Though Melancholia is near perfect, von Trier’s hand held shooting is occasionally so intrusive as to be grating. There is also a perceptible lack in the full realisation of central ideas in the film. Nevertheless, Melancholia is a stunning visual feast and experimental cinema at its very best.
By Haley Beatson, 1 August 2011.
For ticketing information and session times visit: www.nzff.co.nz
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