Lars Von Trier Shows His Vision of the End of the World in New Movie 'Melancholia'

By Luiza Oleszczuk, Christian Post Reporter Friday, November 11, 2011

Controversial Danish director Lars von Trier depicts his version of the end of the world in a new movie titled "Melancholia," but some critics are wondering if the movie doesn't actually indicate the end of the Danish filmmaker's career.

The movie, inspired by German Romanticism, tells the story of an aristocratic family and is focused around a newly-wed woman suffering from depression. The woman's name is Justine (Kirsten Dunst), or rather "melancholia." The plot explores the lives of Justine's family, and touches upon the question of the institution of marriage, as one of the first scene is that of Justine's wedding. Her parents are a divorced, dysfunctional couple as the father abuses alcohol and the mother is a skeptic when it comes to tying the knot.

But the much more important motif in the movie is the fact that planet Earth is about to crash with planet Melancholia. And as the world awaits its end, things are surprisingly calm in the movie, especially the main character, who awaits the conclusion of this crucial historical moment with something that has been described by most critics as joy.

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The film features birds falling from the sky, but otherwise, it seems quite opposite to what people tend to expect from an apocalypse, such as chaos. The scenes are quiet and full of picturesque backdrops, as the movie takes place at a lavish country manor.

The movie has received a very wide range of reviews, from very positive ones, like that published by NPR, to those that absolutely slam von Trier and his work, like the Guardian o and the New York Observer.

"The loopy indulgences of deluded Danish nut Lars von Trier, who recently declared himself a bona fide Nazi in publicity-grabbing world headlines, are no longer called films, they're considered provocations-shunned by discerning audiences worldwide and embraced by only a small gaggle of clucking, pretentious critics and film festival filmgoers," wrote Rex Reed of the New York Observer.

"[The movie] opens with a very long, unnecessary closeup of Ms. Dunst's face looking ravaged, eyes at half-mast, which sustains the mood of deadly ennui for the next 135 minutes of torture. She is on her way to her own wedding reception with a dopey, submissive groom (woefully miscast TV vampire Alexander Skarsgard), but the plans are overshadowed by an unnamed planet that has dislodged itself from the solar system and is hurtling toward Earth in slow motion. If you've turned the page already, I don't blame you," Reed continued in his review.

However, von Trier himself did not leave the opportunity to slam the movie to anyone, really, because he slammed it himself already in April. In a statement published on the official film website, von Trier writes: "It was like waking from a dream: my producer showed me a suggestion for a poster. 'What is that?' I ask. 'It's a film you've made!' she relies. 'I hope not,' I stammer. Trailers are shown… stills … it looks like [expletive]. I’m shaken."

He then called the film "cream on cream" and, in a remark apparently meant as critical, a "woman's film."

"I am confused now and I feel guilty. What have I done? Is it 'exit Trier?' I cling to the hope that there may be a bone splinter amid all the cream that may, after all, crack a fragile tooth," he wrote.

The director is a colorful and controversial character, who began making films at the age of 11 and is known for using sexually explicit images, like in his famous 1998 movie, "The Idiots." One of his works includes "Nymphomaniac," a film telling – and showing – the story of the sexual self-exploration performed by a very young girl. The director has also received a lot of criticism for his occasional comments about considering himself a Nazi.

Von Trier reportedly filmed "Melancholia" after he went through a serious deep depression. While suffering from that disease, he also reportedly made a very dark movie, "Antichrist." He indicated that he was much happier shooting "Melancholia," NPR reported.

"I've always found him a loathsome character. He famously drives his lead actresses to the brink, and most of his films are fatuously nihilistic," wrote NPR's David Edelstein in a recent review.