What I found most fascinating is the pull between German romanticism and Dogme realism that dominates the aesthetic. The prologue is beautiful, yes, but it's followed up by lots of tight close-ups, intimate moments, and pure nastiness. Which works better, I think, than if the whole film was shot like perfectly composed paintings and set to Wagner - frankly, that could get boring really quick. But by playing the moments of sheer beauty off against the moments of sheer bitterness, von Trier livens the material and makes his pessimistic voice heard. Plus Kirsten Dunst is as good as she's ever been, even if she's definitely had some work done.

I definitely need to see it again on the big screen to really appreciate it, though.

Review: www.worldofkj.com/article.php?i=469

Anyone who doesn't do cartwheels for this is a douche.

so lars vt makes a movie that is far more concerned with humanity than that similarly-ambitious malick film that also came out this year. heh. the solyaris-to-2001 analogy is apparent all the way down to the bruegel, and like tarkovsky's flick, it's also the victor of its match.

definitely kirsten's best performance since 'bring it on' (classic)

Just finished it a little bit ago. I have chills. This is a beautiful film and I have a feeling it will be one that's hard to shake. Kirsten Dunst and Charlotte Gainsbourg are absolutely award-worthy. It really makes me mad that it wasn't released by a bigger studio, like Fox Searchlight. Could have been a big awards contender. Dunst would have been nominated for sure, and it likely would have made it into other categories. It's a real shame. This is so deserving of the attention. I think with the advertising muscle behind it and the awards attention it could have been a mini-Black Swan. I'm thinking maybe a 50-60 Million grosser. Sadly its chances are fairly slim as far as awards attention goes now. It wouldn't be impossible for Dunst to score a Best Actress nomination, but it seems very unlikely.

Really wish I could experience this work of art on the big screen.

A

Glad you loved it.

I walked by a theater playing this yesterday and I almost went to see it but I was too tired and I knew I wouldn't appreciate it. I'll definitely be ordering it on demand soon. I hear really amazing things.

So sad. It deserves the big screen experience.

Final scene: Mindblowingly epic. Probably the best I've seen in any movie this year.

Everything else before it: Good.

The ending was so perfect, it's almost impossible to dislike this film as a whole even if you hated every other aspect of it.

Just saw this! Visually, it's wonderful to see. Well acted and a very dramatic ending that kept you on the edge of your seat.

B+

This is quite an interesting, fantastic film Lars von Trier put together here. After I saw it I was in mid-shock still but as I have grasped the film now over the past 24 hours, this was truly something. First, the differing points of view on Melancholia between Justine and Claire were both done very well to where you got their opinion but there were little pieces in between that make their views that much stronger. This could of been a timeless film had their not been technology involved though I was fine with how little was used to get Claire's view across. There was no sitting in front of the television or radio constantly to get her nerves going. Plus, if she realized the end was coming in one instant, instead of having some built up fear beforehand, then her reactions may have turned a bit unbearable. I love how we basically get Justine's point of view in basically a one night downfall (her wedding reception) but also in very clever lines of dialogue ("It tastes like ashes!") The scene between the two sisters when Claire is planning out how they will spend their last moments was I believe the best time during the movie to show both of their opinions. Kirsten Dunst and Charlotte Gainsbourg both such a great job here but if I were to give the edge to either of them it would probably be Gainsbourg. Kiefer Sutherland also pulls in a very strong supporting performance. The constant score is both eerie and effective as are the visuals. The final scene though is still stuck in my head though with just how powerful and emotional it was. Such a great film and one of the best of 2011 for sure. I think I now have a very solid top 5 of the year. ****

Glad you loved it.

I also love how Claire finds out about the end by that little device her son makes. So simple, but so effective.

8/10 -> B

While I find previous Trier movies better, Melancholia is still a very strong movie. A bit overlong, but due to its uniqueness I forgive it.

One of the two movies I've seen from 2011 that could be argued as masterpieces and it wouldn't be out of place, the other one being Martha Marcy May Marlene. And of course, they're a perfectly fitting pair both for their similarities - Lead character mental collapse, single setting, two sisters, utter darkness - and contrasts - Melachonlia is a symbolic and grandiose orchastra compared to MMMM's rawness, MMMM is about there being no answers and the horror of knowing this, while Melancholia is about making up answers that are not there. I urge everyone to see both. Oh and they're both better than Black Swan by a ridiculous amount. They make Black Swan look like the Ides of March

This is definitely the best performance of Dunst's career. I don't know if I've seen one give half this good in her hack-y career. But this is really brilliant, I didn't know she had this darkness in her. One of the best depression performances I've seen

Excellent post on IMDB btw: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1527186/boa ... /193268053

Dunst's career honestly hasn't been so bad. She's been in a lot of terrific movies and given a lot of strong performances. Interview with the Vampire, Wag the Dog, The Virgin Suicides, The Cat's Meow, the first two Spider-Man movies, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, All Good Things. (I was going to include Wimbledon, lol, which I consider a very underrated and refreshing romantic comedy.) She had a few rough years there where her only movie was the dreadful How to Lose Friends & Alienate People, but I wouldn't call her "hack-y." The Sofia Coppola movies, Interview with the Vampire, and Eternal Sunshine alone raise her body of work above "hack-y."

I like to hate Von Trier, but not this time 'cuz its brilliant

Yeah, it's about as close to flawless as anything released in 2011 was.

When everyone from snack/yoshue to Mike/David to Shack to jmovies LOVES a Lars Von Trier film something seems terribly wrong.