"Alexander Skarsgard and Ms Dunst didn't seem to have any real chemistry to me."
If they had real chemistry, there would be something seriously wrong with their performances. Theirs is not a relationship that should have chemistry. On their wedding day, the lack of chemistry between them should be wrenching. And it is!
I liked MELANCHOLIA very much when I saw it and the more I think about it, the more I admire it. It may not be a great film, but it is audacious, well-crafted and - most important to a movie-goer like me - has an important story to tell. Eschatology has rarely if ever been so entertaining or thought-provoking. (Like many on this thread, I had big problems with Antichrist; and although I know BREAKING THE WAVES has many champions, I personally found it ridiculous.)
MELANCHOLIA for me was consistently engaging, and something I could watch again very soon. This is exceptional for a Von Trier film. I think, for instance that DOGVILLE is an underrated and very fine movie, but so far, I have not been able to handle sitting through it again. Once was enough.
For those who feel they might have seen enough about depression (and anyone watching Claire Danes' riveting work on HOMELAND may well feel they are saturated, at least on the bipolar front), this is not a typical exploration of the subject.
While Dunst's performance captures the illness well, it transcends realism, and is pitched perfectly with Von Trier's vision. The director's purpose here is not a psychological character study in the classic sense. Instead, his story is about two sisters (Dunst and Gainsbourg, equally brilliant), one alienated and melancholic, the other conventionally well-adjusted and successful.
The movie begins with Justine typically challenged and emotionally isolated in the universe - her own as well as the audience's, i.e., the usual cosmic order - and Claire typically competent and resilient. Justine relies on Claire for everything.
However, throughout the film the natural order as we know it, Claire's milieu, self-destructs as Melancholia gets nearer and nearer to Earth. In an ultimate reversal, Justine is the one in sync with the new and unavoidable cosmic reality while Claire, her environment destroyed, regresses and becomes inconsolable.
With so much so fundamentally altered, can Claire rely on Justine and can Justine be relied on?
The premise is original and the pacing, if one is patient enough for this type of filmmaking, superb. Dunst's performance is compellingly grounded in Justine's need to value and honor the truth, however painful to herself, however devastating to life on earth.
Catharsis for anyone with even a fleeting sense of utter doom. Much needed as these days one would have to be mad not to have one.
Updated On: 12/23/11 at 02:39 PM
