Review of Melancholia (2011) by Maureen J — 18 May 2013

I've heard a lot of things about this one. Basically everything from that it's a work of art to it's complete crap that's trying to hard. So of course I had to decide for myself. And I really enjoyed it.

I loved the opening montage. The shots looked like moving paintings, they were beautiful. Was it absolutely necessary to the plot? Eh, not really, they were perhaps a little distracting considering for the rest of the movie I was looking for the real versions of the opening surreal images, but was it pretty to look at? Absolutely.

Something else I enjoyed was the stark contrast between the first part and the second part. The first part was much more realistic, focusing on the family aspect and watching a marriage fall apart on the wedding night.

While the second part delves a little more into watching one family deal with possible end of the world. And is a little more surreal visually. On that same note, these two parts were so different they could have been two different movies entirely.

I don't know if that was intentional, or even if I liked that or not, but it was interesting. But I will say the second half dragged a little more than the first, especially near the end. Different topic, the acting in this movie is a force to be reckoned with.

This is the best work I've ever seen out of Kirsten Dunst and Alexander Skarsgard. Watching Dunst try to get through her wedding night, and then the way she basically crumbles to pieces in the second part, it was heartbreaking to watch.

Skarsgard also broke my heart. He tries extremely hard to connect with Dunst's character, to show his love and devotion, and then it's not reciprocated in full, basically he was fantastic. Now, I know of Charlotte Gainsbourg, but I've never seen a movie of hers, but I thought she was brilliant as well.

She is the glue trying to hold all of these scattered people together, and she was fascinating to watch, up until the very last moment. Now, all this being said, yes, the plot could have moved a little quicker, and some of the dramatic framing devices are a little obvious, and overall, it's a little out there, to say the least, but I still enjoyed it.