Melancholia

First Hit: Although slow and at times meandering, it stays with you long after it's over and evokes deep feelings of melancholia.

The pacing of this film is known from the get go. It is going to be a slow unwinding piece. At the very beginning we know the outcome, but because it is represented like a smooth ballet, this knowledge is almost forgotten until the very end.

The end of the world may or may not come the way it is depicted here, but the way people react to the end may be far closer in these frames than how other apocalyptic films present the end.

Justine (played by Kristen Dunst) is getting married to Michael (played by Alexander Skarsgard). They are very late on arrival to their wedding festivities in very remote country club. Claire (played by Charlotte Gainsbourg) is Justine’s older sister whose very wealthy husband John (played by Kiefer Sutherland), is paying for this event.

Michael, Claire, and John all seem to be trying to manage Justine as she sways in and out of sadness, hopelessness and sparks of joy. They want her to be happy but the history is etched on their faces as to the futility of this management. Then Justine and Claire’s mom is heard from at the wedding table.

Gaby (played by Charlotte Rampling) is a severe pessimist when it comes to love and happiness. Her look tells you, that she’s disliked, or maybe hated, herself her whole life. However, there is enough going on for the audience to see that Justine’s melancholy is not only based on her upbringing by this mean spirited person. Her innate sensitivities to all that’s around her is probably a large factor in how she thinks, feels and acts.

As everything falls apart, the film's extraordinary cinematography envelops the audience into its fold for the final ride to the end.

Dunst shows us she wants to be taken seriously as an actress and and here she shows why. A very strong performance. Her fluctuations between melancholy and fleeting moments of joy and love towards others were very honest. Skarsgard, was perfect as the guy who hoped he could “save” Justine from her depressions and when he tells her he cannot believe someone so beautiful is with him, he’s right. His nuances of hopefulness and sadness were dead-on. Gainsbourg is an actress that I enjoy watching because I feel that in any moment she will explode, like dynamite. She never does but how she contains the energy in this film of being the smart squared-away sister until she realizes it is all going to end was wonderful to watch. Sutherland as Gainsbourg’s husband fit the role very well. There was enough arrogance and “how dare you” in his character which was rounded out by his obvious love and thoughtfulness towards his son. Rampling was the kicker. Her performance as the sarcastic fatalist was pitch-perfect. John Hurt as Justine and Claire’s father was the optimist in their family but he also liked his own life his way. Lars von Trier wrote and directed this film. He clearly knew how he wanted it to look and feel and he got strong performances from his choice for actors. About one third of the way through the film I thought, “jeez this is slow” and wondered “where this was going”. However, in the end it was very satisfying.

Overall: The images, thoughts about, and contemplations from this this film will stay with you for days after you see it. This is the character of a very strong film.

Antichrist

First Hit: Started off rather interesting, veered off the highway, fell into a ditch and finally off a cliff.

Two wonderful actors, Charlotte Gainsbourg and Willem Dafoe, along with director Lars von Trier teamed up to make a film which started out beautifully, with potential to share a powerful message, but then segued into a poorly done horror film while attempting to make woman suffrage points along the way. The opening “Prologue” is beautiful to watch. In slow motion two people engaged in lovemaking; starting in the shower and moving to different venues, positions shift, things fall in very slow motion and all in black and white. The camera moves to another room and we see their child, slowly getting out of his crib, moving across the floor, and then opening a child security gate. The boy sees his parents making love walks into another room sees an open window with snow coming in, he is entranced as are his parents. The camera continues to move between the couple making love, their expressions and the boy. The boy climbs on top of the desk and into the open window frame. The camera focuses on his face, then on the face of his mother, their looks are nearly the same. The camera goes back to the falling child’s face and then the face of the father. Joy, wonder, the unknown, the boy falling to his death, ecstasy of “the petite death” called orgasm and then the reality; their boy died while they made love. What a setup, but then a story of sorts starts to get in the way. Dafoe is a therapist and attempts to save his wife who feels so guilty about the death of her son that she wants to kill herself. Simply, he’s a bad therapist and obviously incompetent but I don't know whether it is by design or just a bad script. It isn’t long before their dialogue and the tone of the film heads off the highway, onto a side road and then into a ditch. With the introduction of some occult studying Gainsbourg did earlier in their country home in “Eden”, the film falls off the proverbial cliff and in a reactive moment Gainsbourg thinking that Dafoe is leaving her, decides to mutilate him, then herself. At this point this film isn't pretty to view and watching it is very difficult.

Dafoe and his character (I don’t recall any names used) is obviously not a qualified psychologist but really thinks he knows something and knows what Gainsbourg needs. Gainsbourg, who is the main focus of the film, is both bizarre and openly naked (both figuratively and psychologically). But the blame for driving this car off a cliff is Lars von Trier.

Overall: Don’t bother to see this in any venue, there isn’t a point.