Analysis of a movie "Melancholia"

/1/ Lars Von Trier is known for being unpredictable, puckish, and deliberately provocative. Living aside Sympathising-with-Hitler comments before the Cannes premiere of Melancholia, the movie deservedly immediately attracted the attention of critics and audiences. Despite its disarming tragedy and sometimes typical Trier over-slowness, Melancholia is a beautiful film. It is replete with visual metaphors, which I will talk today about.

/2/ In von Trier’s film, Melancholia is the name of a planet that crashes into the Earth, causing its destruction. /3/The story depicts the lives and relationships of a handful of people in the lead-up to this Armageddon. It centers upon the sisters Justine and Claire, who are portrayed as each other’s conceptual and visual opposites; from disposition and outlook on life to hair color and accent.

/4/ We see Justine sink further and further into the throes of what is presumably meant to be ‘clinical depression. Claire tries to care for her, but it is rather a frustrating task.

/5/ Meanwhile, the planet Melancholia moves closer to earth. Claire’s husband John assures his wife and their son that the planet will pass the earth by. The ‘fly-by’ will be a spectacular sight, a once-in-a-lifetime experience, but the planets will not collide, Melancholia will continue on its way and all will be well. But Claire is anxious and scared. /6/ John eventually discovers that he is wrong and proceeds to take a lethal overdose of pills rather than face the end of the world. Justine, who has been barely functioning, remains calm as disaster strikes. The world is evil, she says and does not deserve to continue.

/7/ The film is told in two halves, one focusing on Justine’s wedding and how her depression ruins the entire event, and the other focusing on Claire as she deals with the aftermath and having Justine hit rock bottom while in her care.

/8/ The movie is filled with visual metaphors and metaphors that relate to the events in the film.

Let's start from the very opening sequence.

The movie opens with several slow-motion shots some of which are metaphorical events:

• /9/ A sorrowful Justine looking on as birds drop dead behind her - an intimation of the disaster(s) to come.

• /10/ Her sister, Claire (Charlotte), running on the golf course with her legs sinking in - problems drag on more and more, like quicksand, not allowing escaping them

• /11/ Justine standing alone as insects fly upward - A sense of warped, skewed, and elongated time is often reported by those suffering from this mental illness

• /12/ Justine, Claire, and her son standing in the middle of the golf field with three celestial bodies in the sky- the connection of the events that take place in the lives of the characters with the events that will happen with the planet, namely its destruction;

• /13/ Justine standing and looking at the light emanating from her fingers- Justine’s ascendance to her role of a person that feels Melancholia as nobody else does

• /14/ Justine running with roots stuck to her legs- She tries to escape from the problems that she has (in this particular moment – unwanted marriage, but she doesn’t have enough strength).

• /15/ Justine floating in a stream of water - Lars Von Trier picked up the idea for this scene from Millais’ painting “Ophelia”. Knowing the backstory of Ophelia’s tragic ending, we can say that Justine is a contemporary Ophelia. She is torn apart and lost herself, but her face is calm and she is not panicking.

The above are things that Justine, with her abilities of perception, is feeling.

Let's talk about more crucial metaphors that the movie outlines.

/16/ The blue planet ‘Melancholia’ about to crash into Earth is a metaphor for Justine’s condition

/17/ The planet Melancholia is portrayed in the film as a blue gas giant, something like the real-life planet Jupiter. Melancholia.