Review of Melancholia (2011) by Midlands M — 19 Oct 2013
With an intro cut from the same cloth as Terence Malick's Tree of Life (see review below), Von Trier sets up a film about depression against an end of the world disaster and a dysfunctional family wedding - 2 things to REALLY get you down.
Telling the tale in 2 parts (from sisters Kirsten Dunst and Charlotte Gainsbourg) its big themes are worn on its sleeve with a planetary dance of death orchestrated with a bombastic Wagner soundtrack in slow motion to start, before focusing on the minutiae of the family lives at the wedding filmed on handheld camera.
Like the aforementioned Malick film, the film contrasts and reflects the big picture/smaller details of the story at the same time, as relationships and families are destroyed. The film's certainly no Dogville and as Charlotte Gainsbourg recites "it's incredibly trivial" at one point, I unfortunately felt the same about the movie which although an interesting and challenging piece of work is very much like the subject matter, incredibly difficult to enjoy.
6/10 Midlands Movies Mike.
This review of Melancholia (2011) was written by Midlands M on 19 Oct 2013.
Melancholia has generally received positive reviews.
Was this review helpful?
