It's the end of the world as we know it..

A striking sight to see.. but a potential inconvenience to your day, perhaps?

I see what he did there!

Yeah, Lars Von Trier's film is all about feeling miserable: a great big blue planetoid hanging serenely over the planet before crashing down and [probably] killing us all.. lots of people at a wedding party struggling with depression, desperation and barely supressed panic. The first act finishes with the relief of the guests being able to leave the wedding reception after a particularly awkward day. The second with the viewers' relief at Melancholia smashing into the ground and vaporising the remaining protagonists of the movie.

Despite this fact I easily rate Melancholia as one of the top five films I've seen so far this year. It easily runs 30mins too long, has some clunky dialogue and wooden characters but stimulated an emotional response in me unlike 90% of the films I have ever seen. When the credits rolled on 'Inception' I mentally shrugged my shoulders and thought "Ok, whats for dinner?". When 'Melancholia' ended I couldn't stand up for several minutes and had to mentally gather my thoughts from the far corners to which they had been scattered. I always think a film should get you thinking, it should be floating in the recesses of your mind for several days after. LVT certainly achieved this - he was part psychiatric outpatient, part showman in his promotion which really got interest up for this movie's release. But the substance of the film itself deserves the praise it has received. Melancholia looks stunning, from the first few minutes of Kirsten Dunst's face framed by falling birds behind, you realise you're viewing something distinctive. Amongst other things, the POV shots of the planet gradually looming, retreating and coming back [spoiler, hah!] give the film a wonderfully claustrophobic nature. It's clear that there is no escape, which makes you sympathise for the characters even more...

Funnily enough, I didnt feel for Dunst in this film. Apparently it is a breakout role for her (boobs out = break out?), but I'm not so sure. Once again, it's Charlotte Gainsbourg who seems to bare all for her craft, this time not so literally. She runs through the full range of emotions, culminating with the most terrible (the alternative definition of 'terrible' here) look of despair I think I've ever seen etched on somebody's face - genuine or otherwise..

Meanwhile the rest of the cast serve as filler, Kiefer Sutherland interestingly delivers like he's gargling gravel and the rest flitter in and out of view with little consequence. The sisters are the stars of this drama, as well as the big blue planet which makes a hell of impact on plot developments at the climax of the film..

..pardon the pun...

A.