This film tries to tie too many things together into one and hence fails.
The "Claire" part is better, but its finish is weak. Let her go to the village, show the pain of the people and at least that part would have been fine.
No can do, since, if Wagner ruins "Die Götterdämmerung" by Brünnhilde's self immolation instead of letting it end properly with Siegfried's death, then Lars von Trier must of course ruin his film in the exact same way.
It is a dramatic impossibility to go from grief to blissful resignation.
And, by the way, that's also not how Schopenhauer said blissful resignation comes about. (Explicitly, resignation comes from either suffering or insight and insight comes from being lucky and a genius.) Not that Lars wouldn't know, he knows things, just like Justine does, in particular that life is evil. And hence she is... clinically depressed. What went wrong there? But the more idiotic the twist... all of a sudden it's "Always look at the bright side of death, just before you draw your terminal breath", which is actually quite sane, but... where did that sanity come from? I also wonder why the film is called "Melancholia" and not "Depression". I must admit that Kirsten Dunst does a good job at looking swollen and old in the second part, but in the first part all she looks is consternated, like a woman who just heard the words: "It hasn't rained in weeks. Go get the bucket and water the apple trees. I would do it myself, but it would be rude, if I would let my good friend here drink all the moonshine alone by himself." And that is not melancholic and neither is it depressed. Gloomy, yes. Filled with hatred, yes. But that's about it. And her actions? Well, stage fright isn't melancholia and neither is it depression. Let me put it this way: What would Amy Winehouse have done? Certain things similarly, other things very differently. Why should a melancholic person be afraid of marriage? If it doesn't change anything, well, what to be afraid of? In my opinion Lars simply exchanged the person. In the first part Justine has a choleric temperament, a power complex and strong regressive tendencies. In the second part she's clinically depressed. Until in the very end she makes for a silly parody of blissful resignation.
There are other horrible mistakes in the first part, like that Lars can't make up his mind, whether he wants to narrate or show. I mean, if you show a wedding like that, then it stands for itself. Good art actually, the best depiction of a wedding I've ever seen on film, but in its glorious objectivity it totally destroys any consideration of the plot or Justine's inner life. I was thinking: "Yeah, just like that on my friend's wedding. And what a tour de force it is..." And I am not to blame. You shoot like Tarkovsky, you better also steer like Tarkovsky. Is that too hard to understand? And then the thing which annoyed me the most, the constant use of "Tristan und Isolde" as if "Tristan und Isolde" would be about regressive tendencies, clinical depression or what have you! If you read this Lars, let me tell you what "Tristan und Isolde" is really about: "Heilige Elisabeth, bitte für mich!" How dare you! So, Wagner went to Paris, didn't like it, but Minna did. Wagner's reaction? "Der fliegende Holländer": A woman should drown herself, if that would bring salvation to her husband and not enjoy trivial things. Still angry, back in Dresden, he composes "Tannhäuser": Yes, I married her for sex. If only it could be any other way! And then "Lohengrin": Forget about it. Women shouldn't even know the names of their husbands, so little do they grasp a man's greatness and depth. But... now... low and behold... Mathilde Wesendonck! Did she come out of the blue? Or did Wagner finally find a woman who fitted the Elisabeth role? But the thought had taken on flesh now and Wagner had to wrestle himself out of its grip and so he composed "Tristan und Isolde".
That's it. No room for interpretations here.
The only time when I thought the music was fitting was in the second part during the hail storm, fitting for the naked desperation and pain.
And all the other times, it's just a silly artsy fartsy thing.
On the plus side, visually and metaphorically the film is quite good and even connected to melancholia.
Nevertheless... all in all... this is just pompous. Compare it to "Breaking the waves" and you'll see.
The "Claire" part is better, but its finish is weak. Let her go to the village, show the pain of the people and at least that part would have been fine.
No can do, since, if Wagner ruins "Die Götterdämmerung" by Brünnhilde's self immolation instead of letting it end properly with Siegfried's death, then Lars von Trier must of course ruin his film in the exact same way.
It is a dramatic impossibility to go from grief to blissful resignation.
And, by the way, that's also not how Schopenhauer said blissful resignation comes about. (Explicitly, resignation comes from either suffering or insight and insight comes from being lucky and a genius.) Not that Lars wouldn't know, he knows things, just like Justine does, in particular that life is evil. And hence she is... clinically depressed. What went wrong there? But the more idiotic the twist... all of a sudden it's "Always look at the bright side of death, just before you draw your terminal breath", which is actually quite sane, but... where did that sanity come from? I also wonder why the film is called "Melancholia" and not "Depression". I must admit that Kirsten Dunst does a good job at looking swollen and old in the second part, but in the first part all she looks is consternated, like a woman who just heard the words: "It hasn't rained in weeks. Go get the bucket and water the apple trees. I would do it myself, but it would be rude, if I would let my good friend here drink all the moonshine alone by himself." And that is not melancholic and neither is it depressed. Gloomy, yes. Filled with hatred, yes. But that's about it. And her actions? Well, stage fright isn't melancholia and neither is it depression. Let me put it this way: What would Amy Winehouse have done? Certain things similarly, other things very differently. Why should a melancholic person be afraid of marriage? If it doesn't change anything, well, what to be afraid of? In my opinion Lars simply exchanged the person. In the first part Justine has a choleric temperament, a power complex and strong regressive tendencies. In the second part she's clinically depressed. Until in the very end she makes for a silly parody of blissful resignation.
There are other horrible mistakes in the first part, like that Lars can't make up his mind, whether he wants to narrate or show. I mean, if you show a wedding like that, then it stands for itself. Good art actually, the best depiction of a wedding I've ever seen on film, but in its glorious objectivity it totally destroys any consideration of the plot or Justine's inner life. I was thinking: "Yeah, just like that on my friend's wedding. And what a tour de force it is..." And I am not to blame. You shoot like Tarkovsky, you better also steer like Tarkovsky. Is that too hard to understand? And then the thing which annoyed me the most, the constant use of "Tristan und Isolde" as if "Tristan und Isolde" would be about regressive tendencies, clinical depression or what have you! If you read this Lars, let me tell you what "Tristan und Isolde" is really about: "Heilige Elisabeth, bitte für mich!" How dare you! So, Wagner went to Paris, didn't like it, but Minna did. Wagner's reaction? "Der fliegende Holländer": A woman should drown herself, if that would bring salvation to her husband and not enjoy trivial things. Still angry, back in Dresden, he composes "Tannhäuser": Yes, I married her for sex. If only it could be any other way! And then "Lohengrin": Forget about it. Women shouldn't even know the names of their husbands, so little do they grasp a man's greatness and depth. But... now... low and behold... Mathilde Wesendonck! Did she come out of the blue? Or did Wagner finally find a woman who fitted the Elisabeth role? But the thought had taken on flesh now and Wagner had to wrestle himself out of its grip and so he composed "Tristan und Isolde".
That's it. No room for interpretations here.
The only time when I thought the music was fitting was in the second part during the hail storm, fitting for the naked desperation and pain.
And all the other times, it's just a silly artsy fartsy thing.
On the plus side, visually and metaphorically the film is quite good and even connected to melancholia.
Nevertheless... all in all... this is just pompous. Compare it to "Breaking the waves" and you'll see.