Review of Melancholia (2011) by Dillinger P — 18 Mar 2014

The first time I got round to seeing what was being hailed as "a sheer masterpiece" by Lars Von Trier, I was so bitterly disapointed by the end results that I spent a good few days slamming the film.

A few years have passed and since then I thought, ok ive grew a little, learnt the craft a bit better, saw some more mind opening films, maybe, just maybe I got the wrong idea about Melancholia... It would seem that I was more disheartend by it the second watch through which was an even bigger shock to me! The premise is this, Justine, played by Dunst, has just got married and the couple, her other half played by Skarsgard, are running criminally late for the wedding recpetion organised by her sister clare, Gainbourgh and her husband, Sutherland.

The reception is a disaster and a couple of weeks later, it appears that not only is a planet just appeared out of nowhere as is hurtling towards earth but weve changed protagonists and Dunst has decided she wants to not only try out for bitch of the year award but for Charles Xaivers school for the mutantly gifted.

This film is just a mess! Where to start? The opening 10 minutes, is a super slow motion outline of the last 30 minutes of the film, cut into vigenettes. This goes on for way too long and shows us the outcome of the film before its even begun.

Fair enough if your going to do something smart with your piece, but this doesnt. We then skip back to part 1, Justine, Jesus christ this segment drags and its not just because of its ungodly running time, but because Justine as a character herself is so unlikeable, so unrelatable, so angering that you couldnt care less for this girl.

Yes she clearly has some mental instabilities but their layed on so thick here that its a wonder that their was even a wedding in the first place? Then lets come to the rest of the cast, John hurt, justine's father, a drunk that has a thin layer of laughs about him but is in fact the worst father on the planet.

Justines mum, who is just there to rant really, Stellan Skarsgard, Justines boss makes a decent enough attempt at what materials hes been given but he has so little to do here whats the point. The only characters you relate to in this segment are Gainbourgh and Sutherland.

Sutherland, rightfuly so, complaining about how much money his wives, sister is costing him as she makes a mockery out of her wedding. Gainsbourgh equally doing a good job at being your only entry point other than Kiefer into the film.

Alexander Skarsgard is so unlikeable and pathetic that you dont forgive the end result of the night and after over an hour of running time your left painfully bored, not liking the majority of your cast and the only thing going for you at that point is some stunning cinematography and an occasional nice piece of imagery.

Then were onto part 2, Claire, Von trier decides that he wants us to completely change the focus now onto gainsbourgh and sutherlands family, which is where all the focus of this film should have been coming from the start! Sometime has passed since the wedding and now we get Dunst coming back as some nutter that can predict the future, to stay with her sister as they all watch the planet Melancholia fly by the earth.

A monumental event, where Claire is scared, what if it hits, what can she do, her sense of helplessness towards her family, this is better stuff but already well into the hour and a half mark, the piece has been so heavily tainted that apart from the special effects and claire and her husbands characters you dont care.

It doesnt help that X-Dunst is constantly running about being a complete bitch until the very end, which guess what? there is no change or sense of peril because we watched the end at the begining of the piece! WHAT IS GOING ON WITH THIS FILM? What was lars von trier thinking? If its a character study then why are 90% of the characters 1 dimensionally written and unlikable? If its an edge of your seat thriller, why are you giving away the end of the movie at the very start? If its a movie about how people react in the face of death, what the hell is the point in the first hour of this film? It is just painful and the ending, the fucking ending! Not only have we seen it twice but just before Melnacholia hits we see Claire beg her sister to come outside with her and her son, be together, drink some wine and that would help her come to terms with her impending doom, instead Justine replies with no, thats a stupid idea, goes and builds a wooden wig wam and they all sit under it holding hands? WHAT IS GOING ON HERE? What the hell were people thinking? What is this film about? Who cares, I mean really, who gives a toss! Apart from a decent cast in places trying their hardest with the mince they are given, the only other 2 production teams that deserve credit are the music and the visual crew.

Everything else just no. "Self Wankery" for the sake of it,.