Melancholia - thank goodness for small planets!

Starring Kirsten Dunst, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Kiefer Sutherland.
Directed by Lars von Trier.
Classification: M (Sexual references, nudity and coarse language), 136 mins.

 If Tree of Life (2011) is at one end of the life-affirming poetic spectrum, Melancholia is at the extreme end of life-negating. Interspersed with the occasional beautiful landscape scene that are zooming stills (thank goodness for small mercies), the ENTIRE rest of the film in shot in annoying, unsettling, HandyCam - not even SteadyCam, yes jumpy close-ups of switching of dialogue. The background sound, equally annoying, is the radio waves of the approaching planet screeching, ebbing and overtaking, and utterly distracting. The characters are so unlikeable, by the end of two-and-a-half hours (of my life that I never get back watching this film), you feel like cheering on the little planet of Melancholia to destruction!

Set in two parts - part one "Justine' (Kirsten Dunst) is undoubtedly hauntingly beautiful - albeit self sabotaging, irresponsible, and downright hurtful to her newly-wed husband and the meticulous planning of the wedding reception by her perfectionist sister Claire (Charlotte Gainsbourg). Needless to say it mostly likely the shortest marriage in history, even by Hollywood actor standards - though painfully for the audience, stretches into at least about a year an hour on film.


If by any chance you happen to be able to sit through part one - part two "Claire" is equally uneventful, another hour of "will the planet Melancholia hit earth or not?" - in between the vague premise of who will have the first breakdown, Claire or Justine is equally irritating. Meanwhile Claire's husband John (Kiefer Sutherland), has a fascination with astrology and owns a mansion complete with butler - which seems to be the only reason his character is in this film.


Did I happen to mention the whole film was shot in HandyCam! Yes, yes it is stylistic Director choice though I can't help but imagine what the heck Lars was thinking.

Don't let me put you off though if you're a Lars fan, and trust me you'd want to be... and if you can find it in a playing cinema - which should probably hint at something - it is showing in limited release through Palace, Chauvel, and Dendy.