'Melancholia' – 4 out of 5 stars

Posted to Arts & Entertainment by Alfie Cox at 3:45 p.m., Nov. 16, 2011

It all starts with a non-descript rumble that shakes the tiniest of objects. Many can’t understand why this is happening, but none are in tune with their emotions like Justine (Kirsten Dunst) is. Soon the rumbles get louder, deeper and stronger. The world is collapsing and Justine’s tears are the only indication that something is going terribly wrong in Lars Van Trier’s latest apocalyptic feature “Melancholia.”

The highlight of “Melancholia” is Dunst’s strikingly sad performance as Justine, who seemingly leads a perfect life until she gets wind of a planet that shares the same name as the title. All the events that lead to Justine’s sadness, such as her wedding and her husband (Alexander Skarsgard) leaving her that same day, strangely make her closer to the disaster that is heading in Earth’s direction. Dunst truly opened herself to the material and was truly believable as the sorrowful woman with truly nothing to lose. She connects with the viewers because without doubt there have been people who have felt that there is no way out of this sadness besides planet Earth being destroyed.

Van Trier’s track record in film is quite interesting. His films are not terrible, but difficult to understand even in their most comprehensible moments. He tends to go into these very sad directions that directly correlate to his real-life issues – Van Trier has battled depression for many years. When he can connect those emotions into his writing and directing, he turns out a strong feature with strong performances from his actors who seem to get into the material as convincingly as Van Trier has written it.

The scenes are in a beautiful composition, showcasing the progression of Earth’s demise along with Justine’s emotional valleys and peaks. The lights shine upon whomever appears in a scene, as if Van Trier is foreshadowing the lack of a light and a future around the end of the film. In true Van Trier style, the film at times takes a plodding pace and can drag along but picks up in a moment’s notice and does not feel disjointed, as this is a film exploring various moods.

“Melancholia” suffers from overly long scenes and, at times, too many ideas, but delivers on the strength of Dunst’s performance and a special feature– a Lars Van Trier film with true emotion until the very end.