In the opening sequence of Lars Von Trier's Melancholia, Kirsten Dunst is seen in a variety of images. The first 5 minutes of the film is one of the most exsquisitely shot beginnings I have ever seen as a cinephile. Everything is in stop motion. A horse is falling backwards into the ground. Gaingsbourg clutches her son and steps through the golf course. Dunst flails in her wedding dress in a river amongst lily pads. Dunst has lightning bolts streaming from her finger tips. My personal favorite is the image of Dunst in her wedding dress with all of these vines holding her back as she tries to run forward. The entire time these images are being revealed Wagner's Tristan and Isolde sets the musical tone of decadence and depression. These shots are very much like cinematic paintings.
Mr. Lars Von Trier has made a companion piece to Antichrist. In Antichrist he revealed the rage of depression as an outward beast. Gainsbourg yelled, fought, screwed, and inflicted all in an effort to vanquish her depression. The forest in Antichrist was seen as a place of danger where a fox spoke and shouted the words "Chaos Reigns". When the Summit Cinema Film Festival screened Antichrist half the audience walked out midway. Gainbourg's husband played by Defoe was a physiciatrist and extremely scientific, but insensitive and naive.
Von Trier's Melancholia is the sister of this film. Depression is on the menu again, but this time it is all internal. Dunst in contrast to Gainsbourg in Antichrist is extremely subdued. She begins the film ecstacically then slowly sinks into the depths of discontent. Dunst doesn't yell through out the entire film. In describing Dunst's acting she hits all the notes on the piano. She is flawless at depicting someone whom is stuck in depression yet whose eyes and face say it all.
The web created by Von Trier is quite intricate. The first five minutes outline everything to come in the film. The film is broken into two parts the first entitled Justine for Dunst and the second Claire for Gainsbourg. The two are sisters. The location of the film is never revealed. I choose to not give two much away about Melancholia. The film deals with Dunst's wedding and the end of the world simultaneously. Apocalypse and marriage.
