When I watch a movie, I can put up with mediocre cinematography and other shortcomings but I cannot get past characters that do not say and do things that real people are likely to say and do in the circumstances where the characters find themselves in the movie.
In this respect, Melancholia is perfection, while other aspects, from dialog to staging, are merely ingenious.
The script brilliantly reveals the main character Justine step by step, played by Kirsten Dunst. At first she comes off as a one-dimensional neurotic, prone to inexplicable fits of depression and whimsy. At times she is so depressed she cannot get herself into a bath.
As the story progresses, her actions exhibit a breadth of aberration beyond sadness and pathos, from the anti-social -- as in showing up two hours late for her extravagant wedding reception -- to outright hostile -- such as by having impromptu outdoor sex with her boss's nephew during that reception. The audience is prepared to interpret these acts as part of an old pattern of behavior, given her whacked-out family, her flighty father and her mouthy, mean spirited mother.
At this point no one is liking Justine's character. Is this an artsy movie about a crazy rich woman? Boring.
Then the script introduces us to the apocalyptic event that is behind Justine's behavior but without connecting the two yet. We see a giant blue planet menacing the evening sky. We are told that the consensus of scientists is that the planet presents no danger, that it will pass by harmlessly. But we are cued to wonder what the real story is, such as by Justine's sister turning up contradictory assessments in a web search.
The only character that doesn't discuss the looming planet is Justine. Why? As we learn later, for Justine there's nothing to talk about. In fact, for her purposes it's best to keep her knowledge to herself.
Is there a connection between Justine's mad behavior and this threat? If so, why isn't everyone else acting out as well? Maybe Justine is just being Justine, prone to erratic feelings and hysteric acts, and the possible danger posed by the planet is turning up the volume.
But then the script reveals Justine is an advertising executive who functions at a too high a level to be a career depressive neurotic. She is the go-to gal that thinks up the tag lines for a major agency's top ad campaigns. Her boss surprises the family by giving her a promotion at the reception.
Justine is sensitive, a creative who feels the world around her deeply, and a seer. The director relies heavily on Dunst's marvelous facial expressiveness to convey an inner world that she struggles to keep inside and away from those around her.
This leads us to the aspect of Justine's character that is the motivation for her behavior. Justine knows that the big blue planet will destroy the earth. She's worked it out the way an autistic knows the number of beans in a jar without counting them, the way she can miraculously come up with the perfect tag line. To the people around her this ability is like magic. This time she decides to use it for her own benefit, to exploit others rather than to be exploited as she has been, such as by her despicable boss whom she later tells off.
In contrast to her family who will only realize their fate hours before the event, Justine has had days, weeks, months -- who knows how long -- to feel sadness, terror, anger -- the full range of emotional reactions to certain death, and to plan her final days. The rest of her family is variously numbly unaware, or in denial, or confused to the end.
Justine is perfectly clear: Everyone and everything is going to die.
Justine doesn't waste time trying to explain the truth that she sees. Perhaps she doesn't feel that these people in her life deserve to know the truth, or they won't believe her anyway.
She decides to use her special knowledge to her own benefit. She works down her bucket list. She gets married. She gets her brother-in-law to throw her an expensive wedding reception. She gets her sister to comfort her in her moments of crippling despair, but without revealing the cause to her sister. Instead she lies to her: "If you really think I'm afraid of a planet, you're stupid." But her sister suspects there's something her sister isn't telling her, later accusing her: "You're lying to all of us." And she is. She prepares only her beloved nephew, keeping his innocence safe to the end.
To help us to relate to the depth of her feelings the movie is filmed in the beautiful natural scenery of a wealthy family's estate. Had Justine been poor and the family filmed in a two family house in South Boston, Justine's cynical defense against her feelings of sadness and rage for her and the world's demise would not have the same sting: "The Earth is evil. There's no need to grieve for it."
Melancholia is about human nature and family brought into sharp focus by the ultimate time-out. It is about the relationship between the creative and the exploiters of the creative. Like all great movies, it drifts between the real and dream state of consciousness. Justine's visions at the start of the movie are so drawn out you worry that the whole movie will go on that way. After that you are with Justine and her family in the final days of her life that she lives out on her own terms, and it really feels like the end of the world.
In this respect, Melancholia is perfection, while other aspects, from dialog to staging, are merely ingenious.
The script brilliantly reveals the main character Justine step by step, played by Kirsten Dunst. At first she comes off as a one-dimensional neurotic, prone to inexplicable fits of depression and whimsy. At times she is so depressed she cannot get herself into a bath.
As the story progresses, her actions exhibit a breadth of aberration beyond sadness and pathos, from the anti-social -- as in showing up two hours late for her extravagant wedding reception -- to outright hostile -- such as by having impromptu outdoor sex with her boss's nephew during that reception. The audience is prepared to interpret these acts as part of an old pattern of behavior, given her whacked-out family, her flighty father and her mouthy, mean spirited mother.
At this point no one is liking Justine's character. Is this an artsy movie about a crazy rich woman? Boring.
Then the script introduces us to the apocalyptic event that is behind Justine's behavior but without connecting the two yet. We see a giant blue planet menacing the evening sky. We are told that the consensus of scientists is that the planet presents no danger, that it will pass by harmlessly. But we are cued to wonder what the real story is, such as by Justine's sister turning up contradictory assessments in a web search.
The only character that doesn't discuss the looming planet is Justine. Why? As we learn later, for Justine there's nothing to talk about. In fact, for her purposes it's best to keep her knowledge to herself.
Is there a connection between Justine's mad behavior and this threat? If so, why isn't everyone else acting out as well? Maybe Justine is just being Justine, prone to erratic feelings and hysteric acts, and the possible danger posed by the planet is turning up the volume.
But then the script reveals Justine is an advertising executive who functions at a too high a level to be a career depressive neurotic. She is the go-to gal that thinks up the tag lines for a major agency's top ad campaigns. Her boss surprises the family by giving her a promotion at the reception.
Justine is sensitive, a creative who feels the world around her deeply, and a seer. The director relies heavily on Dunst's marvelous facial expressiveness to convey an inner world that she struggles to keep inside and away from those around her.
This leads us to the aspect of Justine's character that is the motivation for her behavior. Justine knows that the big blue planet will destroy the earth. She's worked it out the way an autistic knows the number of beans in a jar without counting them, the way she can miraculously come up with the perfect tag line. To the people around her this ability is like magic. This time she decides to use it for her own benefit, to exploit others rather than to be exploited as she has been, such as by her despicable boss whom she later tells off.
In contrast to her family who will only realize their fate hours before the event, Justine has had days, weeks, months -- who knows how long -- to feel sadness, terror, anger -- the full range of emotional reactions to certain death, and to plan her final days. The rest of her family is variously numbly unaware, or in denial, or confused to the end.
Justine is perfectly clear: Everyone and everything is going to die.
Justine doesn't waste time trying to explain the truth that she sees. Perhaps she doesn't feel that these people in her life deserve to know the truth, or they won't believe her anyway.
She decides to use her special knowledge to her own benefit. She works down her bucket list. She gets married. She gets her brother-in-law to throw her an expensive wedding reception. She gets her sister to comfort her in her moments of crippling despair, but without revealing the cause to her sister. Instead she lies to her: "If you really think I'm afraid of a planet, you're stupid." But her sister suspects there's something her sister isn't telling her, later accusing her: "You're lying to all of us." And she is. She prepares only her beloved nephew, keeping his innocence safe to the end.
To help us to relate to the depth of her feelings the movie is filmed in the beautiful natural scenery of a wealthy family's estate. Had Justine been poor and the family filmed in a two family house in South Boston, Justine's cynical defense against her feelings of sadness and rage for her and the world's demise would not have the same sting: "The Earth is evil. There's no need to grieve for it."
Melancholia is about human nature and family brought into sharp focus by the ultimate time-out. It is about the relationship between the creative and the exploiters of the creative. Like all great movies, it drifts between the real and dream state of consciousness. Justine's visions at the start of the movie are so drawn out you worry that the whole movie will go on that way. After that you are with Justine and her family in the final days of her life that she lives out on her own terms, and it really feels like the end of the world.