|
Opis:
The Danish auteur's latest is a study of depression, and more specifically suicide. Subtle suicide imagery abounds: a jar of beans doubles resembles a pot of pills; a child hacks at the wrist of a tree branch with a knife; a bridge doubles as a gateway of doom. But aside from metaphor he also faces mental illness head-on, in the relationship between the catastrophically depressed Justine (Kirsten Dunst) and her caring, resourceful sister Claire (Charlotte Gainsbourg, back in the ring for another round).
The early wedding scenes, in which beaming Justine slowly self-destructs on her wedding day, are reminiscent of the masterful Festen (directed by Dogma 95 brother-in-arms Thomas Vinterberg). But the agenda here is quite different: a prelude to a desperately solemn second act, where it is never quite clear who is aware that the world is going to end, who is unaware, and who is in denial. We never move outside the manor grounds - does "the village" really exist? How much of this world belongs to Justine's dreamworld (brought to life in a seductive Wagner-scored opening sequence)?
Or is the planet Melancholia some kind of sister to Solaris? Indeed, Von Trier, who dedicated his previous film to Andrei Tarkovsky, directly references Solaris with his use of the painting "Hunters in the Snow" by Pieter Bruegel. It's worth remembering, also, that Tarkovsky's final film, The Sacrifice, focused on a remote country house, whose wealthy occupants were caring for a disturbed, melancholic loved one, who may or may not be seeking psychic consolation by imagining the end of the world. Von Trier doesn't quite match that film's bleak humour, but the comparison is valid.
Regardless of Lars Von Trier's off-screen japery, there's no denying he creates serious, memorable, deeply textured film worlds, each time squaring the wheels on another Hollywood genre. I think Melancholia could have done with a more static camera, and a slightly fuller script (Von Trier's skills as a writer shouldn't be underestimated). But there aren't many filmmakers who would be willing to make a disaster movie which is both vaster and more focused and singular than any that have gone before. With all the dollars and extra dimensions in the universe, Roland Emmerich could never make us feel such a sense of sadness and loss.
Wysyłka po premierez 25.01.2012
|
