For the
sake of not having to write the same intro a million
different ways throughout the rest of time, just know that
this column avoids the overly long and sometimes dull
process of full film reviews and instead opts to break
things down based on what I thought going in, what happened
while I was there and what I learned at the end of it all.
Thanks for reading!
The
Breakdown - Melancholia
The Impression:
Lars Von Trier is perhaps the most controversial director
working in the mainstream today. I’ve heard rumors that this
film starts with the end of the world and goes from there.
Count. Me. In.
The Reality:
Melancholia is yet another strong entry in to the
harsh and uncomfortable canon of Lars von Trier. The film is
broken up in to two acts about two well-to-do sisters
(Kirsten Dunst and Charlotte Gainsbourg) holed up in a
enormous mansion as scientists discover a second planet
slowly moving towards Earth. But von Trier isn’t making a
sequel to Armageddon, he’s crafting a near unbearably
tense film about two people racked by depression and anxiety
who must face these suffocating illnesses as the world
slowly falls apart around them. Every performance in the
film is spot on with high marks going to Kirsten Dunst for
an amazing disassembling of her traditionally bubbly persona
and to Kiefer Sutherland for so convincingly portraying a
beneath-the-surface asshole. At times Melancholia is
so emotionally tense I felt nauseated staring at the screen,
riding in to the abyss with the characters on screen. It’s
almost as if in his later films von Trier has turned towards
the world of science-fiction and fantasy to help better
showcase the emotional conflicts raging within his
characters. The story of two planets colliding and two women
trying to find meaning within it is von Trier doing what he
does best - forcing the viewer to experience the
stomach-tightening emotional duress of his so often times
emotionally disabled characters.
The Lesson:
Lars von Trier is built to fuck you up.
- Noah Sanders
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