Melancholia [Blu-ray]

Most films about the apocalypse involve a group of characters, who are trying to run from the disaster at hand, wanting to fix everything, including saving the world. These movies usually include frantic violence and special effects, paper-thin characters, and not even a remote possibility of feeling sympathy for a character, because you know they will win in the end. However, in Lars Von Trier's "Melancholia", none of this is really the case. From the opening sequence, you know essentially what is going to happen. However, I won't accuse this film of being predictable, because it uses absolutely no cliches that are so typical of the disaster film sub-genre. And plus, it has much more to fall back on. The film centers around two sisters - Justine (Kirsten Dunst), and Claire (Charlotte Gainsbourg). Justine is getting married to Michael (Alexander Skarsgard), however Justine has been severely depressed for a very long time. She hasn't been able to cope with a lot of the changes in her life, and she doesn't know why. Claire has a young son, and she's always been the kind of person who looks after others, her sister, her child, and the rest of her family. When there is talk of a new planet called Melancholia, and the likelihood of it colliding with Earth, it forces Claire and Justine to look back on their lives, and ponder the decisions that they have made, and to find the meaning of their own lives before it becomes too late. If you only need one reason to watch this film, it's Kirsten Dunst. I never quite saw Dunst as a serious actress. I had seen her in mostly comedies, however I thought she gave a wonderful performance in Sofia Coppola's re-imagination of "Marie Antoinette", however, I thought that maybe Dunst just got lucky that one time. This film proves that she can act, and she may even be Oscar worthy. Proving herself to be a character actress, her expressive eyes and face tell you so much about her character, even when she is saying nothing at all. Charlotte Gainsbourg was apparently in a few of Triers' other films, yet this is the first thing I had seen her in. She's fabulous shining just as much as Dunst. The audience might relate or identify with her character more, making her, in a way, the heart of this picture. Her acting style is very poignant, quiet and thoughtful. I can't wait to see what she does next. Keifer Sutherland and Alex Skarsgard have minor roles here, and while they're very good, their characters could have been better-developed, and as thought out as the two female leads. Lars Von Trier has made quite a few award-winning films. However, none that I can recall are as universal, approachable and ambitious as "Melancholia". As someone who attempted to watch "Dogville" and never quite got the hang of it, I can say that this is a massive improvement. First of all, "Dogville" had a running time about two minutes shy of three hours. It didn't have enough going for it. However, this one has everything going for it. As the title suggests, a somber, and depressing mood is established early on in the film. However, it displays a lot of fine acting and cinematography, and the way that startling and beautiful images are put together with concertos from Wagner's "Tristan und Isolde" make for something beautiful, and uncompromisingly haunting. The theme, or message of this film is about togetherness, and family. However, there are so many metaphors scattered throughout this movie, that you might take something different away from it than I did. Regardless, you won't forget about this film anytime soon. While the term "art film" has been thrown around to disposable and forgettable films, this is a true art film. The imagery and soundtrack, and the reputable lack of special effects, considering this is essentially a disaster film, are undeniably refreshing. While it is very depressing and devastating, it leaves an impression that is unlike anything you've experienced in film before. It's extremely and unrelentingly thought-provoking, and like the best art, it's open to interpretation. Grade: A-

A lot of the reviews here that are one star are very troubling. I'm reminded of the people who reportedly walked out of the theaters during Tree of Life, or Twilight fans posting book reviews of Stoker's Dracula or Tess of the d'Urbervilles (that was mentioned so frequently by the author of Twilight). I get it. The movie is slow paced. I get it. The science fiction is a mere backdrop rather than the focus. But the movie is meant to explore an emotion, not merely state it. It explores how severe depression really is. It explores how those without depression react to tragedy and how those with it become numb to stress and tragedy. It is slowly paced - but it does so to bring you to an emotional realization. There's nothing wrong with movies that are action and more highly paced in their drama. But, for me, Melancholia - along with other incredibly cerebral science fiction like the Her or the UK televsion series, Black Mirror, are these scifi pieces that are really upping the game as far as art goes. Too often is science fiction just the window dressing for dumb action movies. Too often do supposedly adult drama mean to do nothing but over stimulate you and sell you a soap opera story. Very rarely does a piece get so intimate, require you to reflect upon the people and their situation without jarring you to the next situation and the next and the next. In a world where society must constantly be forced to be over stimulated, this asks you to slow down to explore this one thing. And frankly - the one star reviews here say more about the reviewers, than they do the movie. The shooting locations and the capturing of them are just absolutely gorgeous, it's incredibly well acted and the prelude to Richard Wagner's opera Tristan und Isolde set the tone of the film perfectly. My one petty complaint, is the naming of the planet. The movie is aptly titled - but there was no real reason to actually name the planet crashing into earth that very thing. But i suppose it fit the flow and feel of the movie.

Lars von Trier himself has said that this film is about depression, which is part of his own personality. Those who are anxious to preserve an optimistic and "positive" outlook on life might be wise to avoid it. But then there are those more inclined to agree with Thoreau's remark: "Be it life or death, we crave only reality." And from that point of view, this film is a masterpiece. It may seem odd to mention "reality" in connection with a story in which a science-fictional element plays a central part. In this film, "Melancholia" is not only an old-fashioned term for depression but also a planet (blue, of course) which has wandered into the solar system and, we are told, may or may not collide with Earth. In astrophysical terms, this is highly unlikely but not impossible. The main implausibility here is that nobody seems to have seen this planet coming years before, although it's much larger than Earth, because it was "behind the sun." But that's a relatively minor detail, not hard to suspend one's disbelief about. And that's worth doing, because the real focus of the story is the relationship between two sisters who respond in diametrically opposed ways to the situation presented by Melancholia. Justine (Kirsten Dunst) is the depressive sister, and the first half of the film deals with her struggle between a promising future (it's her wedding day) and the gravity that threatens to pull her into a black hole. Claire (Charlotte Gainsbourg) is the more normal of the two. She sometimes hates her sister for spoiling the party, but also cares about Justine enough to recognize her condition as an illness and try to help her get over it. Both Dunst and Gainsbourg are superb in their roles, and the interplay between them (not to mention the other characters) is psychologically realistic to an almost painful degree. In the second half of the film, while Justine's inner melancholia is on the wane, the planet Melancholia becomes the dominant factor in the story, transforming the relationship between the sisters. And that, in my view, is what makes this film a masterpiece, because the sisters, without ceasing to be finely drawn individuals, represent (to me at least) two different but equally essential sides of human nature. Cinematically, this film is unusual in several ways. Most of the events and interactions of the story are shot in a quasi-documentary style with hand-held camera. Yet it's preceded by a long overture that foreshadows key elements of the story in extreme slow-motion images, accompanied by Wagnerian music (from the opera Tristan and Isolde). It's a combination of artistic Romanticism with realism that should not work, but for me only adds to the power of the film. Of three or four von Trier films i've seen, this is far and away the most engaging. The Blu-ray (i haven't seen the DVD version) includes a fairly short but illuminating extra in which von Trier, Gainsbourg, Dunst and a psychologist comment on the story. Other extras comment on the visual style and how the effects were created. The film certainly is beautiful (both picture and sound) in 1080p. The dialogue is all in English, but there's also a version dubbed into French as well as subtitles in both languages.

Achtung! Hier sind ein paar Spoiler enthalten. Lesen auf eigene Gefahr! Der Planet Melancholia rast auf die Erde zu und bereits in den ersten Minuten des Films sehen wir das Ende der blauen Kugel. Wie ein Staubkorn wird sie von einem Giganten zur Seite geschoben. Diese Eröffnungssequenz erinnert einen natürlich direkt an "Antichrist". Majestätische Bilder in Verbindung mit klassischer Musik, gab es dort schon einmal zu bewundern. Allerdings ist so etwas bei dieser Ästethik einfach nur wunderbar. Direkt zu Beginn saugt der Film einen dadurch in die Leinwand. Cut! Wir begleiten ein Brautpaar zu ihrer Hochzeitsfeier. Das Glück und die Heiterkeit währt allerdings nicht lange. Justine leidet an Depressionen, die Schubweise auch den eigentlich glücklichsten Tag ihres Lebens beeinflussen und letztendlich auch zerstören. Dieser von Lars von Trier als Teil 1 deklarierte Plot, bleibt die komplette Laufzeit auf der Hochzeit, die in Ansätzen an "Das Fest" erinnert. Ihre Verwandschaft ist bis auf ihre Schwester Claire nicht gerade traumhaft und auch Teile der übrigen Gäste mag man nicht unbedingt als Freunde haben. Dieser Part des Films wird wieder im Dogma Stil vorgetragen, was Gegnern der Home-Video-Wackel-Kamera absolut nicht zusagen wird. Eher dokumentarisch wohnt man den Gegebenheiten bei, die allerdings sehr viel Aufschluß über die Hauptpersonen geben. Wer also darauf hofft das Bruce Willis mit ein paar Sprengköpfen die Erde rettet, sollte von Melancholia weiten Abstand gewinnen. Dafür gibt es aber unglaublich einfühlsame und interessante Charaktere, die von Kirsten Dunst und Charlotte Gainsbourg phänomenal wiedergegeben werden. Auch der weitere Cast ist mit John Hurt, Charlotte Rampling, Kiefer Sutherland und Stellan Skarsgard unglaublich gut besetzt. Allerdings verlangt der komplette Part den Zuschauern einiges ab. Man muss konzentriert bleiben und sich auf die Geschehnisse einlassen. Hier steht nämlich keineswegs der bevorstehende Weltuntergang im Vordergrund, wobei auch hier fantastische Bilder serviert werden. Dies hat meist mit einer unglaublich starken Ausleuchtung der Sets zu tun, aber auch die brillanten Dialoge sorgen weiterhin für ungemeines Interesse. Sofern man etwas für Dialoge übrig hat. Der zweite Teil des Films, der vom Regisseur auch extra so betitelt wurde, löst den Dogma Stil ab und versprüht Ruhe. Ungemeine Ruhe. Die beiden Schwestern befinden sich auf dem Gelände des reichen Ehemanns von Claire. Nur ihr Sohn und ihr Mann ist noch anwesend. Langsam aber sicher beschäftigt man sich mit dem näher kommenden Planeten. Claire wird immer panischer und hat tiefergehende Angst, das Melancholia das Leben ihrer Familie auslöscht. Justine dagegen taut aus ihrer tiefen Depression langsam wieder auf und durch den bevorstehenden Tod kommt wieder Leben in sie. Zum ersten Mal bringt man sie mit Freude und Sehnsucht in Verbindung. Sehnsucht nach Melancholia. Die Charaktere der Schwestern tauschen langsam die Rolle, genau wie es bei der Kameraführung geschehen ist. Jetzt bereitet uns von Trier ein melancholisches Fest für die Sinne, bei dem ich unglaublich dankbar bin, dabei gewesen sein zu dürfen. Der Film ist ein unheimlicher Brocken, der nur schwer zu verdauen ist. Nach dem Film bin ich erstmal eine Kippe rauchen gegangen und schlenderte ziellos in der Kinogegend umher. Bei einem Italiener bestellte ich mir unbewußt einen Cognac, obwohl ich nur sehr selten Alkohol trinke. Möglicherweise um das Gesehene besser zu verdauen, aber da wird der Cognac nicht ausreichen. Ich schätze das ich Melancholia noch eine Zeit lang verarbeiten werde. Meine Verabeitung hat wirklich länger gedauert. Die Rezi hatte ich mal geschrieben, als ich aus dem Kino kam. Heute war die Zeitsichtung auf Blu Ray und der Film hat mich erneut absolut umgehauen. Das war nämlich für mich der einzige Punkt bei dem ich nicht sicher war. Begeistert er auch beim zweiten Mal? Für mich persönlich kann ich es uneingeschränkt bestätigen. Aber nicht nur um den Film mehrfach sehen zu können, lohnt sich der Kauf der Blu Ray. Die ist nämlich ebenfalls klasse. Das Bild wird man zwar wahrscheinlich nicht als Referenz einordnen, da es kein Mainstreamer ist, aber ich finde es sehr detailreich und ausgesprochen scharf. Die Kontraste sind absolut klasse und die Bildgewalt kommt in HD verdammt gut rüber. Aber auch in den überwiegend leiseren Sequenzen verschafft das Bild einem das Gefühl dabei zu sein. Der Ton ist ebenfalls ausgesprochen gut, wobei er etwas frontlastig ist. Dies passt aber absolut zum Film, da die Dialoge wichtiger sind als räumliche Effekte. Der Bass war an den wenigen brachialen Stellen aber ein wenig unsauber. Kann aber auch definitiv an meinem Hörraum gelegen haben. Neben der Deutschen ist natürlich auch die Englische Tonspur vorhanden, zu der man optional deutsche Untertitel hinzuschalten kann. Als Bonusmaterial gibt es neben den Trailern zum Film, noch 4 Featurettes die einige Interviews und auch Deutungen bereit halten. Die sind in jedem Fall sehr interessant und beinhalten nicht nur das obligatorische Schwärmen vom Set. Für Flatschengegner ist sogar ein Wendecover dabei. Somit ist das für mich eine absolut gelungene Veröffentlichung.

Just before I start, let me WARN those viewers who would like to sit on the couch and watch a fun film with a linear story for 2 hours and forget tomorrow to look elsewhere. There is NOTHING WRONG with being a casual viewer. But with this, you will live the film, days and weeks (and perhaps years) after watching it. I think currently there are only 3 directors alive capable of producing masterpiece after masterpiece: Bela Tarr, Michael Haenke and Lars Von Trier (hope havent forgotten anyone). The film is a perfect masterpiece - perhaps too perfect as Lars himself put it. Cinematography stunning, casting and acting perfect, editing just done right and Wagner's music taking the film to another world - the world of Melancholia. Lars has done it again (Breaking the waves, Dogville, Dancer in the Dark). The film is depiction of colliding two different worlds (not really planets, they are just symbols): the world of Melancholy (named Melancholia) and the normal world. Justine belongs to the world of Melancholy - she is a foreigner on the earth hence she cannot go through the wedding without destroying everything. She even seems to make love to the planet in the second episode. Melancholia makes her to feel calm there, feel at home. She is worried and terrified in the first episode. A sense of eventual doom lingers on in the first half of the film which then turns into a calm and peace while everyone else panicks in the second half. So what is it about after all? There is yet a hidden core to the film which I have yet to uncover. But it might be years until the sunconscious works its way to mind. Which happened to me with Tarkovsky's Solaris.

Sin duda alguna es de las mejores o la mejor película sobre Melancolía que hay, y la mejor de Lars Von Trier. Me encanta y me identifico actualmente con la protagonista y sus familiares.

Muy buena película, no para todos los públicos. Si se busca "acción" no es adecuada. Magnífica historia y personajes muy bien desarrollados con su propia personalidad. Es una peli que obliga a usar el cerebro y reflexionar. Visualmente hermosísima.