Monday 3 October 2011

It's the end of the world as we know it.....and I feel clinically depressed.

Well today I finally got see 'Melancholia' after what seemed an eternity of waiting and what can I say?

                                                                 WOWZERS.

It did not dissapoint. It is definitely his most ambitious and polished project yet, but as with all his films substance not only equals style but there is enough substance to keep diehard VT fans like myself chewing over the bones for weeks. I'm not going to go into a big pretentious essay on 'Why I love Von Trier'...but I may bulletpoint.
This is so far my film of the year, which up to now has been 'Black Swan'. Kirsten Dunst is sublime as the deeply troubled Justine, the focas of the first part of the film, she really owns the film which is no easy feat against the ever watchable and VT muse of late, Charlotte Gainsbourg. Though that illustrates just how good Dunst is, as Gainsbourg, as sister Claire, is phenomenal.
It's no spoiler to say that this is an apocalyptic drama. And it is strangely traumatic, haunting, beautiful. I was warned I would be emotionally drained by the end and I wasn't dissapointed again. One of the many,many things I love about LVT is how fully realised his work is. There are so many films I see that afterwards I think yeah it's okay but..... they're always lacking something. The story loses steam after a while, exposition and character get compromised. You can tell the director starts off with good intent and then doesn't know what the hell to do with it. That's what I mean by being fully realised, LVT knows his shit, he makes a film into something you have never seen before and will NEVER see again and leaves nothing wanting. David Lynch is the only other contemprary director who I would consider on a par, that can transcend film into art and art into a masterpiece. I know it won't be to everyones tastes, 4 people walked out during the screening I went to (FOOLS) but nobody polarises an audience like Von Trier. I always find it curious that people find him a misogynistic director, most of the people I know who adore him are female and he creates such beautiful,challenging female characters. He's not afraid to portray the truth of humanity and essentially I think that's the crux of why I adore his films.
My only gripe. If the world was coming to an end and Alexander Skarsgard was begging me for sex a) Would I notice? b) Would I care? c) Would I tell him to give it a rest,i'm a bit depressed. Unfortunatly for me and thankfully for everyone else I will never have this dilemma or it would be a film of an all together different kind.

5 comments:

  1. I'm going to watch it this weekend. I'm still a bit unsure about VT, he's hit and miss for me, but I agree that when he gets it right it's pretty fuckin spectacular....so I'm excited for this!

    ReplyDelete
  2. So I finally got around to watching this last night. Well I watched Part 1 anyway, then I got really tired (and depressed) so I went to bed, and I'm going to watch Part 2 today.

    Thus far, I'm undecided...I hate all the characters as much as they seem to hate each other, and I'm totally willing that rogue planet to hurry the fuck up! However, it is certainly compelling for whatever reasons, I'll give VT that...even his films I'm not so keen on, I do appreciate certain things about them, and his style in general of course.

    Having said that, his Nazi/Hitler comments at Cannes when he premiered this, have made me think twice about him.

    Anyhoo, I'm keeping an open mind. I'll get back to you after Part 2 with a Pip's Popcorn rating!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Well I really really enjoyed part 2, which came as quite a surprise to me. I was kinda dreading watching it, since I'd found part 1 a total drag...but I was more than pleasantly surprised. I even ended up liking Claire, which was good since I really wanted to warm to at least one person in this film before they were all wiped out!
    As much as a KD fan that I am, I much preferred CG in this film. I would have preferred to watch a two hour version of part 2 rather than that awful intolerable wedding party full of hideous characters...apart from Udo Kier's hilarious cameo "I will not look at her" ha ha!
    On the whole, it's certainly one of the most memorable and thought-provoking things I've seen in a while, and has some really beautiful moments, especially the first 10mins. However, there is some ridiculously-clunky dialogue, some pointlessly-awful and rude characters, and so many glaringly obvious "yeah we get it Lars, they're depressed" moments...it should've been called Metaphoria!

    I'm impressed Claire's husband made it as far as he did, I'd have topped myself at the wedding reception!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Ho Ho Ho..well i'm glad you got something out of it in the end.Apparantly part one was heavily influenced by VT own perceptions on marriage and relationships,which explains a lot.But I have to say,on reflection...and as much as I did love the film it hasn't stayed with me as much as Antichrist and BTW did where I was thinking about them for weeks after. BUT..as I was saying,on reflection,I agree I think Claire was the heart and soul of the story and in hindsight I do think CG was the class act here.She has a unique quality as an actress,achieving almost glass like fragility with a stoic frigidity and strength.I guess that's why she was so good in AC.She'd make a great Lady Macbeth.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Yeah the second part certainly redeemed the film for me. Justine just annoyed the fuck out of me in part 1, I was like....you've got a hot husband, you've just got a promotion....what is your bloody damage pissing on the golf course?!

    CG totally should've been getting all the hype for this film, not KD (as much as I love her)Incidentally, her last album is also bloody brilliant...but thats another story! She would make an amazing LM!

    I agree, it's not as long-lasting as AC or BTW, but still a good effort from LVT...prob one of my faves of his. I'll give it a Pip's Popcorn rating of 3.5/5

    ReplyDelete