By Dan Little
O Lars, you big, brilliant, controversial buffoon of a filmmaker, look at the mess you are in. Relating to Hitler at Cannes? Really? You know the world has been just one step away from walking out your proverbial door right? Well thanks to some ignorant comments blown way out of proportion no one is recognizing your film at years end. O Lars.
Now to address you my dear, lovely, readers. There is something you must know about me as I top off this year end list. I used to be such an objective film viewer, my top 10s were always full of films of true objective greatness, but they were films I also knew I wouldn't be too keen on ever watching again. So over the years I have softened a bit, my top 10s are often mixed with films so great I can't get them out of my head and films I loved so dearly I know that I will watch them for years to come. On that note I want to say first and foremost that, despite its number 2 ranking on my list I assure you that this film is objectively the best film of the year.
Melancholia tells two intertwined stories on the brink of world's end. Two halves make up the whole of Melancholia, the first half titled "Justine", the second titled "Claire." The first part details the neurotic, sad, over-the-top wedding of Justine and her ill-fitting, well-meaning, loving, and handsome groom. Depression plagues Justine, she spends her wedding smiling and waving, but with a slight grimace and a deep emptiness in her eyes. Here Justine is played, no, embodied by Kirsten Dunst. Dunst has been a favorite of mine for awhile, she has a "girl next door" quality, but with an edge. She is not always a great actress on her own, but when paired with a great director this girl is a force of nature. Consider her roles when working under folks like Sofia Coppola or even Sam Raimi compared to her lovely, but vapid performance in a film like Bring it On (a film I love, so don't jump on me haters!). Justine steps out of her limo to become the first to notice a strange new star in the sky before she plays the part of new bride. Lots of things happen at the wedding and we get a clear sense that Justine is a broken soul, not long for this world if she has her say, but her older sister Claire, portrayed with maternal stability by Charlotte Gainsbourg, struggles to keep her afloat. The second half of the film takes place at the same mansion as the first, as it belongs to Claire and her husband John, a very strong Kiefer Sutherland, but this time the focus falls on Claire...kinda. The second half is meant to be Claire's story as the new star, a planet called Melancholia, hurdles towards earth and she fears end times while her sister lilts about in a depressed haze.
Despite the strength of Gainsbourg, Dunst steals the show with every scene. Dunst delivers the strongest performance this year after The Help's Viola Davis. She is surrounded by a cast of phenomenal talent, but no one else holds a candle to her in this film. This is what makes me so frustrated with Von Trier and the politics of awards. Because of some silly comments, Dunst has received no awards since Cannes for her performance. If Von Trier kept his mouth shut his film, and his actors could be sitting on a wealth of awards and acknowledgment, but I suppose he probably doesn't even care that much. Anyways back to the film.
Melancholia acts as a kind of book end to Malick's film. Both films are about the will of the cosmos in contrast to the will of man, both are fixated on the workings of a family, and both are captured in their own unique ways. The difference lies in content. Tree of Life is a film delivering a message, it offers hope. Melancholia isn't so concerned with hope, or at least not in the most traditional sense. It is a film that knows people are bad, life is lonely, and universe is big and daunting, but it also lingers in the relief of passing. The film seems to celebrate the adage "this too shall pass" to a rather devastating degree. Yet beauty still rests in that message in the same way that Tree of Life's message of the celebration of the minutiae and grandiosity of life contains beauty. Truth is beauty even if it is hard to swallow, and trust me this film is one hard pill to swallow, but worth every effort.
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