Kristen Dunst in “Melancholia”
“MELANCHOLIA” My rating: A-
136 minutes | MPAA rating: R
Achingly beautiful and fiercely nihilistic, “Melancholia” may very well be Danish director Lars von Trier’s ultimate philosophical statement.
And since von Trier (“Breaking the Waves,” “Dancer from the Dance,” “Antichrist”) is both genius and jerk, this is one of those love/hate deals.
You may despise what he has to say; you’ll be floored by the skill and artistry with which he says it.
“Melancholia” begins with a series of mysterious images, all of which will be revisited before the film’s over. These are presented as slo-mo tableaus:
A black horse stumbles and falls beneath a sky illuminated by the aurora borealis.
Electric arcs flicker from a woman’s upraised hands.
A mother struggles to carry her child across a golf putting green, but her legs sink in turf as loose as quicksand.
A bride in white runs through a forest glade, but tree roots and branches reach out to entangle her legs.
Finally the Earth collides with another planet in a cataclysmic dance of destruction. (more…)
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