Melancholia (2011)

Melancholia is a very special film for me, coming from my favorite director in cinema, the Danish Lars von Trier.

The story begins with the opera “Tristan und Isolde“, by the legendary composer Richard Wagner. While we listen to it we see the space trajectory of a mysterious and unknown planet that is getting closer and closer to the Earth, said celestial body is called ‘Melancholia’.

We are introduced to the life of Justine (Kirstin Dunst), a young girl newly married to her husband Michael (Alexander Skarsgård), as the film mainly is set at their wedding party. Right from the first interactions of Justine with her husband, her strange behavior begins to unfold, giving us indications that she is possibly suffering from some mental disorder. Her husband seems like someone tolerant of the extravagant and rare actions of his wife. Upon arriving at their wedding party, both are greeted by Justine’s sister and her husband; Claire (Charlotte Gainsbourg) and John Kiefer Sutherland).

During the party, the spectrum of actions and emotions of Justine does nothing but increase its mystery and bewilderment on the part of the guests and her family, later we realize that Justine suffers melancholic depression.
Despite being at her own wedding party, Justine seems to tire of the people around her and realizes the great hypocrisy and existential voids around her, while feeling extremely fatigued, disinterested and indifferent to her husband, for her family and for the guests. Justine tries to impose resilience at all costs, but this disorder ends up consuming her completely and manifests itself in all possible ways, in one of the most shocking and devastating studies I have seen about the disease.

Towards the end, Justine and her family try to prepare and save themselves from the disturbing event that is going to happen, this being that the Melancholia planet collides with Earth and leaves no trace of life in it. Justine is obsessed with this event from the very beginning where she foresees it, since the planet Melancholia is a celebration and representation of her mysterious illness.

by Octavio Carbajal González