The Danish provocateur has done it again, although this time with less provocation and more German romanticism. Lars von Trier’s Melancholia is a profound apocalyptic metaphor for depression. “To me it’s not so much a film about the end of the world; it’s a film about a state of mind,” von Trier stated in a press conference at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival. The film is essentially a story of two sisters, who both hold conflicting obsessions with a newly discovered planet that is heading towards a collision with the earth. And as if this film couldn’t possibly sound anymore cheerful, it is also a story of von Trier’s own struggle with severe depression. Melancholia exposes the ways in which depression may be embodied by the soul.

The film opens with a sequence of picturesque, slow-motion images that are compiled into an eight minute dreamscape, set to the prelude of Wagner’s opera, Tristan and Isolde. A depressingly beautiful image of a fair-haired woman abruptly appears as birds begin to fall from the sky. The frame then fixates on a seemingly ordinary garden, which becomes increasingly unsettling as one notices that a double shadow is cast upon each manicured hedge plant. The images grow progressively more troubling: a woman holding a young boy seeps into a golf course, a horse collapses onto its hind legs, vines tug at the ankles of a runaway bride and finally, the earth is consumed by a foreign planet.

Because von Trier begins this film with its ending, the story focuses on the film’s characters in the final days of the world. The first half of the film explores the character of Justine (Kirsten Dunst), a newlywed who has arrived at the estate of her brother-in-law, John (Kiefer Sutherland), for a lavish wedding reception with her new husband, Michael (Alexander Skarsgård). The film starts as a dark comedy (the two newlyweds laugh at their ill-experienced limo driver) but slowly transforms into one of the most uncomfortable wedding recessions depicted in recent film. It becomes progressively more obvious that Justine experiences volatile mood swings due to depression, as she rarely smiles throughout her own wedding reception, engages in destructive behavior and continuously escapes to the estate’s golf course, where she can peacefully gaze upon a reddish glowing star. 

The second half of the film focuses on Justine’s sister, Claire (Charlotte Gainsbourg). It has been a few months since the wedding reception when Justine returns to the Claire’s estate. It is noticeable that Justine has fallen into an even deeper state of depression, as her misery renders her immobile at times. The reddish glowing star that transfixed Justine in the first half of the film has now been classified as the planet, Melancholia, that scientists claim will supposedly pass by Earth. But Claire does not seem to be fooled by the projections of the scientists as she searches for evidence from the naysayers who claim that the world is indeed doomed.  

While the second half of the film contains fewer characters than the first half, it still delivers enough character interaction between Justine and Claire. Von Trier switches from a focus on Justine’s unrecoverable depression and Claire’s ostensibly calm and collected nature towards Justine’s and Claire’s complete reversal of attitude in the face of the looming Melancholia. Claire falls into sheer dismay as she waits the arrival of the planet, while Justine becomes surprisingly enlightened and oddly tranquil. 

In a way, von Trier presents an extended metaphor between the two planets and two sisters. Claire embodies the Earth; as she is bound to the earth through her roles as a mother and wife. However, Justine embodies the sister planet in its purest form; she serves as the melancholic force that abruptly disturbs Claire’s life. Justine also serves as a spokesperson for the planet, communicating Melancholia’s ultimate mission as she grimly declares, “We are alone. Life is only on Earth and not for long.”

Ultimately, von Trier plays with humankind’s hopes for the future; we can either lament the end of life or welcome it as a relieving presence. Justine’s perception seems to overpower Claire’s, which could either be due to von Trier’s own attitudes or Kirsten Dunst’s brilliant performance. Even if you are not intrigued by apocalyptic films, or you simply cannot manage the film’s overwhelming amount of despair amidst your papers and finals, von Trier’s awe inspiring landscapes and memorable illustrations are something to behold.