Melancholia

Director:  Lars von Trier
Cast: Kirsten Dunst, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Keifer Sutherland, Charlotte Rampling and John Hurt
Releasing in cinemas: 15 December  2011
Rated: M

Lars von Trier, that maverick talent, has made the cinematic equivalent of an operatic masterpiece in German romanticism with Melancholia. As tragically beautiful as a Wagnerian music drama, the film opens with a tableau of exquisite images over the poignant, sonorous sounds of 'Tristan and Isolde'. This elegiac prologue acts as an overture, with ominous but breathtaking scenes, the themes encapsulating visions of the dramatic end of the world.

Melancholia turns out a gentler piece from von Trier after Antichrist. It’s a haunting  'apocalypse now' story as seen through the eyes of two sisters. The story is told in two parts - the first, a lavish wedding party with the reluctant bride Justine (Kirsten Dunst) suffering a form of melancholia, which also happens to be the name of a planet heading towards Earth and our possible destruction as featured in the second part. All the traditional Lars von Trier hallmarks are present: ragtime camerawork after the superbly photographed hypnotic prologue,  Udo Kier's cameo, Wagnerian music, the story told in parts, and hand-drawn titles.

Justine and Michael (Alexander Skarsgård) are late arriving at their wedding reception. The sumptuous party is being thrown by her sister Claire (Charlotte Gainsbourg) and obscenely wealthy brother-in-law John (Kiefer Sutherland), with “the most expensive wedding planner on the globe” (Udo Kier). Present also are the sisters’ reprobate father (John Hurt) and loud acerbic mother (Charlotte Rampling) with her strong aversion to marriage.

Things quickly run off the rails. Justine seems removed from the proceedings, not serious about being involved. Michael has to ask Claire “Is everyone in your family stark raving mad?” Justine rather pokes fun at the reception, where everyone wants to know if she is happy. Justine then falls into deep depression, so when she's finally alone with her new husband, she simply can't cope : “But Michael, what did you expect?”. 

The second part begins with a countdown of the end days. Roles are reversed: life-embracing Claire now increasingly anxious that the renegade planet may actually hit Earth - “I'm scared - we all are.” Meanwhile, the languorous Justine welcomes the grand drama of apocalypse as a glorious release into oblivion - “Life is evil”. She's longing for 'shipwrecks and sudden death', to be at peace by surrendering to the blue planet.

Justine becomes stronger as the others fall apart. John, an amateur astronomer enthralled with the approaching planet, believes it will pass Earth without harm, and so instructs his young son (Cameron Spurr). They watch its progress with a telescope set up on the terrace of their opulent mansion with its own golf course. All too late John realizes his mistake. Now the doom-laden situation harks back to On The Beach.

The impeccable is cast lead by the Kirsten Dunst (Marie Antoinette), who’s the most fabulous looking bride in a remarkably controlled performance as the disturbed Justine; finely balanced by Charlotte Gainsbourg (Antichrist) the anxious and concerned sister. Both give layers of depth to their characters, with moral support from a surprising Kiefer Sutherland (24 - TV), the inevitable John Hurt (Brighton Rock), and Charlotte Rampling (The Eye of the Storm), who’s becoming typecast as a cantankerous mum. Alexander Skarsgård (13) has the look of a Bergman protagonist, which is appropriate since the film reflects the glory days of Scandinavian cinema. As the son, Cameron Spurr has a small yet important place in the story.

Concentrating on the isolated family makes annihilation more effecting than whole cities and thousands being destroyed. Curiously there’s a feeling of redemption even hope after the last scene.

Credit to cinematographer Manual Alberto Claro for stunning visuals; for example, the horses ridden through mists along a curving road tracked from high above. One has to ignore the rough and tumble hand-held shooting of the wedding party, part of von Trier's oeuvre for better or worse. He did the same in Antichrist, the superbly classically shot overture sequence, into hand-held filming of poor Willem Dafoe suffering even more than he did in The Hunter. 

I came across Melancholia at the Melbourne International Film Festival. After the final beautiful devastating image, as memorable as any from 2001: A Space Odyssey, there was shocked silence from the audience, then much deserved applause steadily broke out. For those seeking frothy light entertainment, Melancholia is not for you. Rather this is a reward to the serious cinema goer, who will gladly accept von Trier’s uncompromising approach, with sometimes sea sick camera, for a night to remember.

Footnote : You may wonder why Penélope Cruz appears in the end credit list. She’s there because she suggested von Trier make a film based on Genet’s The Maids about two maids who kill their mistress. This gave him the idea for Melancholia; the maids becoming sisters, originally with Cruz in the lead role. The script reflects von Trier’s own experiences with depression.

John Bale