MELANCHOLIA

Denmark, 2011, 136 minutes, Colour.
Kirsten Dunst, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Kiefer Sutherland, Alexander Skarsgard, Brady Corbett, Cameron Spurr, Charlotte Rampling, Jesper Christensen, John Hurt, Stellan Skarsgard, Udo Kier.
Directed by Lars von Trier.

At one point, director Lars von Trier focuses on a dictionary and the various meanings of melancholia. Already we have seen a pensive, inward-looking bride which suggests the melancholic mental disposition and its emotions. But, we soon learn that a planet veering towards earth, with the potential to destroy and consume it, is also called Melancholia.

Everyone, whether they ultimately like the film or not, will be very impressed by the opening sequences. They consist of a collage of evocative images, contemplative as well as action-oriented: the focus on the bride, birds mysteriously falling from the sky, horses falling and dying, a distant scene of a mother playing with her son, the approach of the planet towards earth. For those who have seen The Tree of Life, it is not difficult to begin making comparisons.

The comparisons can go further. Those who like both films have been enraptured by the visual beauty of each film with the evocation of something transcendent. One reviewer noted that she left the theatre in ecstasy. Those who did not warm to the films and their craft and beauty probably wanted something more behind the images, even more questions rather than answers. Obviously, the films are poetic and demand a poetic response, but there can be more hints or clues or suggestions for meaning.

A case in point is the broadly religious meaning. The Tree of Life offers an image of life after death, bleak as it may be, though family-oriented. In Melancholia, there is a strong family orientation but no religious dimension, nothing transcendent except the nobility of human (flawed) nature.

This is also a film about two sisters, made clear by the nomination of Part I and Part II.

The first sister is the younger, Justine, played by Kirsten Dunst. She is the glimpsed bride in the prologue. Part I is a portrait of her wedding, beginning with a long limousine unable to get through narrow country roads and the couple being late for the celebration. To the anxiety of the older sister, Claire (Charlotte Gainsbourg) and her husband (Kiefer Sutherland). Initially, playful, Justine begins to act erratically (understatement) to the growing bewilderment of her gracious husband (Alexander Skarsgaard). Among the guests are the bon-vivant father (John Hurt) and his acidic ex-wife (Charlotte Rampling) and Justine’s employer (Stellan Skarsgaard). Enough enigmatic events occur which make us wonder about Justine, her state of mind and her future. As a visual and dramatic exploration of a disturbed character, the film is sometimes masterly.

Part II is not exactly a portrait of Claire because Justine is still to the forefront of the picture. Justine is in Claire’s care as she suffers from depression. There is a love-hate relationship between the two. It is mostly hate on the part of Claire’s husband. But their son is attached to his aunt. Claire is not only preoccupied with coping with Justine but she grows more and more afraid that the planet is moving dangerously towards earth. Her husband reassures her. However, as the planet nears, she goes into panic mode while Justine seems calmer, a touch fatalistic. How will they deal with imminent destruction without any resources except themselves, no transcendent hope?

Von Trier has chosen to confine all the action to the mansion that serves as a hotel for a golf course for the wealthy. Apart from the wedding guests and the staff, there is no actual contact with the outer world. Media contact is through the internet. So, this isolated group serves as a microsmic metaphor for macrocosmic events. In terms of realism, it doesn’t really work, so the audience is asked to suspend disbelief and focus on the symbolic few. Easy for those who are absorbed. Not easy for those not persuaded by the premiss.

Which means, as with all von Trier’s films, that there are contradictory opinions, enthusiasm and hostility or, as one unsympathetic reviewer remarked, he was indifferent. Whatever one’s response, von Trier makes distinctive films.

(The small budget American film, Another Earth, was released about the same time as Melancholia. There are similarities in plot concerning a new planet and its relationship to Earth, but quite a difference in outlook between the two films.)

1. The acclaim for the film? Awards? Controversy?

2. The work of Lars von Trier, his perspectives on life, on the world? His visual style? His past austerity? His change to more aesthetic film-making?

3. The Scandinavian setting, standing for anywhere in the world? The universal themes?

4. The title, the focus on the dictionary and the various meanings, the opening with Justine as melancholic, Claire, Jack?

5. The title and the planet, Melancholia? Its visual beauty? Danger? Moving towards the Earth? Ever increasing in size? Destructive? The final collision?

6. The house and its guests as a microcosm of the world? The stately house, the grounds, the golf course? The water? The wedding party? The family home? Isolated? No media except for computers and internet? The effect? Symbolic?

7. The prologue, the close-ups of Justine, the wedding dress, her sadness? Her running in her wedding dress? The birds dropping from the sky? The horses collapsing? The sky, Claire and her son seen in long shot in the grounds? The heavens, the planet, the collision? The excerpts from Wagner? The overall effect of this prologue?

8. The ending, the three remaining people, the stick cave, holding hands, the planet, its advance, the wind and fire, destruction? The use of Wagner?

9. Part One: Justine. The wedding, Justine and Michael, the limousine, being stuck in the country road, two hours late, Claire and John, their anxiety, Claire and the organisation, the Little Father and his management of the wedding, the wedding planner and his anxieties? Justine wanting to see the horse? The ceremony, the toasts, the food? Gaby and her rant against her husband, against marriage and commitment? Cantankerous? The contrast with Dexter, his being with the two Bettys, his speech, thinking that Justine was luminous and happy? The dancing? Justine keeping the group waiting? The interactions with Jack, his speech, the promotion? Later, the onion soup, the clash with Justine, her verbal attack and his indignation and leaving? His nephew, the discussions, the sexual encounter and its suddenness? His later offer of helping? Justine and the bath, Jack and his anger? Claire and her desperation? The wedding night and the preparation, Justine postponing it? Michael and his bewilderment? Her illness, her angers, her future? How well did she love Michael?

10. Part Two: Claire. Claire’s life, her love for John, her son? At the mansion, the golf course? Her helping Justine? The love-hate relationship? Organising the wedding, the expense? Justine recuperating, the meals, preparing the meatloaf? Justine and her mental and physical illness? Sleeping, Claire trying to help Justine with the bath? The two gardening together? Her preoccupation with the planet, her fear? The wire circles to view the growth or diminishment of the planet? The computer information? John and his reassurances? Going riding, Justine whipping the horse? Claire discovering John dead? The car’s not starting, getting the golf cart with her son, the return, fear, the tent, make-believe, preparation for death?

11. Michael, a good young man, his love for Justine, late, the ceremony, the cutting of the cake? The wedding night, Justine’s leaving, his bewilderment?

12. Jack, character, his company, his using Justine at work, the promotion, the announcement, his presence at the wedding, the onion soup, Justine’s attack on him, his humiliation, smashing the plates, leaving?

13. Tim, the nephew, at the whim of his uncle, employed, humiliated, sacked? The sexual encounter with Justine? His offer of help?

14. Dexter, his role as father, the clash with Gaby, his drinking, speeches, dancing, the Bettys? The room prepared for him, his not staying, leaving the note? The contrast with Gaby, the bath, her indignation, her luggage out on the road?

15. The Little Father, his managing of the house, of the wedding? Discreet?

16. The wedding planner, expert, his work, his indignation at Justine, shielding his eyes from seeing her? The comic touch?

17. The film as a wedding spectacle, the influence of such Russian directors as Tarkovsky, the Tarkovsky landscapes, the end of the world?

18. The absence of any religious dimension? The meaning of the universe? Arbitrary meanings? The preparation for death and destruction? No religious hope?