Melancholia Review (Classic Write-Up)

When The Stars Align

Well, this is gonna be tricky. That was my first thought when I set myself on the task to review Lars Von Triers 2011 feature Melancholia. This is an unorthodox film that mixes a humongous event (the end of the human race) with a minuscule scope, setting its sights on two sisters as the vessel to tell the tale of humanities final days. To put in terms so simple they feel sorta insulting for a movie of this complexity: some of it works, some of it doesn't, but at least it all, in some shape or form, leaves an impression on you.

As things get underway in the plot of Melancholia, I actually started to really like what I was watching. Justine (Kristen Dunst) is at her wedding with extended family and coworkers, which seems like a perfect event to have to contrast with the impending apocalypse. After all, weddings typically are the start of a new chapter in ones life, and having a star named Melancholia wipe out our planet a few days after such event seems like an interesting dichotomy.

It actually is, as this portion of the film (the story is split into two parts) is where I found the most enjoyment of the movie. All my life, I've had problems with large scale social engagements, especially ones occurring over holidays like Christmas, so I not only related to Justine's discomfort in this environment, I also felt Dunst did a great job portraying her anxiety in this scenario without it coming off as over-the-top. Various attendees of the wedding are played by notable actors like Stellan Skarsgatrd and John Hurt, who are a treat in their moments in the spotlight.

It's when part two occurs that things begin to spiral out of control, as the story narrows its scope to just Justine, her sister Claire (Charlotte Gainsbourg), John (Kiefer Sutherland) and Leo (Cameron Spurr). With Melancholia getting nearer and nearer to Earth, Von Trier (who also writes this movie) attempts to wring drama out of Claire and Johns conflicting views about the large entities effect on Earth, as well as Justine debilitating condition. Unfortunately, neither of these scenarios really worked for me, especially considering how Justines personality alternates on a whim. Her inconsistency reaches a bizarre apex when, at one point, she even gets some kind of mind-related powers that allow her to know "things", as she herself puts it, like how many individual beans are in a jar. This ability is jarring, comes out of nowhere and only exists to further put Claire on edge.

I also must take extensive grievance with Melancholias shooting style, which consists of constant zooms in and out, as well as extreme close-ups. In the wedding section of the film, this sat well with me, since it's directing choices seemed to be recalling real life wedding videos, which are rarely polished creations. But in the rest of the story, there doesn't seem to be a real use for this visual approach anymore and it becomes more of a hindrance to the feature than anything else, especially in it's egregious use of close-ups,

Thankfully, the final scene redeems the proceedings a bit, as a palpable sense of inevitable doom consumes the characters and their scenarios. There's no attempt to add hope or any other upbeat emotion here, and that kind of devotion to portraying a realistic version of the apocalypse is what makes Melancholia, in its best moments, memorable. At it's best, it's a film capable of incredible beauty and mastery. At it's worst, aspects of the feature, namely the writing revolving around it characters, comes off more clunky and needlessly florid. But at least Melancholia attempts something bold, and while it's flawed (in some moments, deeply so), I'll take a cue from several of the guests at Justine's wedding and raise my own toast to its sense of ambition.