With films like Dancer in the Dark, Antichrist or the Nymphomaniac two-parter, Lars von Trier is one of the most controversial directors of our time. Just as polarizing as the works themselves are often background reports on shoots in which the filmmaker was accused of abusive behavior and more than questionable statements by Lars von Trier himself.
Today, at 9:40 p.m., ONE is broadcasting Melancholia, which perfectly reflects Lars von Trier’s ingenious side, which is worthy of discussion. The drama about the end of the earth is haunting and beautiful at the same time – and rightly brought Lars von Trier a gigantic shitstorm at the press conference for the film in Cannes.
Watch another clip from Melancholia here:
Melancholia – Clip (English)
Melancholia transforms the end of the world into a painfully intimate drama with unbelievable images
The story of the film revolves around the two sisters Claire (Charlotte Gainsbourg) and Justine (Kirsten Dunst) and begins with the wedding of Justine and Michael (Alexander Skarsgård). In the typical Lars von Trier style, this first chapter is already characterized by a gloomy foreboding that unpleasant scenes of the wedding party, which is getting more and more out of control to be accompanied.
Melancholia, after all, is about nothing less than that final impending doom of the earth by colliding with a new, unstoppable planet. However, Lars von Trier does not stage the apocalyptic story as a gimmicky spectacle à la Roland Emmerich.
Rather, the director focuses on the sisters’ relationship at the heart of the film, which is heavily shaped by Justine’s recurrent depression. Again and again Lars von Trier scatters hypnotically overstylized sequences in his film, transforming chaos into bewitching beauty.
Even so, he remains ever close to the indescribable finale of Melancholia complicated emotional worlds of its protagonistswhich are superbly played by Kirsten Dunst and Lars von Trier regular actress Charlotte Gainsbourg.
Melancholia was overshadowed by scandalous Lars von Trier press statements
The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2011 and caused the biggest scandal in Lars von Trier’s career to date at the press conference. Here he made confused statements that he Understand Adolf Hitler and see yourself as a Nazi would.
Even if the director didn’t want his words to be taken seriously, following the disastrous press conference (with the legendary, pitiable Kirsten Dunst next to the director) Lars von Trier was declared “persona non grata” in Cannes and banned from the festival.
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What do you think of Lars von Trier’s Melancholia?