MELANCHOLIA, Lars Von Trier’s new film, is a complex work from a controversial director with a lot on his mind. It’s a genre-bending, allegorical narrative about the end of the world rooted in melodrama and shrouded in mystery at every turn.

If you are familiar with Von Trier’s past work and especially his major works like Dogville, Antichrist and Breaking the Waves you already know that with each successive film he intends to provoke some sort of extreme reaction from the viewer and Melancholia is no exception. If you are new to Von Trier this film may be one of his most accessible. It’s certainly is one of the most visually ravishing and multi-layered of his career.

The film begins with a prologue of ultra slo-motion leitmotif imagery set to the climactic galvanizing strains of Wagner. In shot after shot Von Trier slowly immerses us in beautifully realized images of pain, suffering, and tragedy with the slo-motion serving the create a sense of deep symbolism while also setting up pieces of a puzzle that will gradually be revealed to us later with devastating results.

The story that follows is divided into two parts – each one given the title of the two main characters around which this story is based. The first half, titled “Justine”, belongs to Kirsten Dunst as Justine and her gradual depressive downgrading amidst an unraveling wedding party thrown in her honor by her sister, Claire, played by Charlotte Gainsbourg. Justine is becoming more and more despondent with everyone around her even her new doting husband played by Alexander Skarsgard. As the complexities and follies of Justine’s life and her dysfunctional family come to light the first half of the film is aided immensely by a lively, bold supporting cast of brilliant veteran actors like Charlotte Rampling, John Hurt and Stellan Skarsgard: each one virtually stealing their respective scenes.

Then as one major mystery pushes all other concerns to the side the film shifts to its slower second half titled “Claire” which leaves a lot of the “heavy lifting” for the two main actresses. Dunst and Gainsbourg engage in a passive-aggressive battle of wills as they become aware of a mysterious planet called “Melancholia” shown slowly approaching Earth’s atmosphere and impending doom creeps in steadily. While much of the drama in the second half takes place between the two sisters there is also an amusing, counter-balanced performance by Keifer Sutherland as Claire’s filthy rich yet grudgingly cheapskate husband. His character is one of the most deceptive and ultimately contradictory ones in the film. Though you might expect such conundrums in Von Trier country.

As Melancholia gradually emerges as a giant glowing blue harbinger of doom Justine goes from being virtually paralyzed by depression to becoming morbidly energized and ultimately accepting of her fate as Claire follows a more normal and sympathetic range of opposite emotions going from stern control to hysteria to mournful and heartbreaking anguish as she shares the last few minutes of life on earth with her sister. Both actresses deliver some of their best work here in difficult and opposing roles.

As we become more aware of the reality they face we also become aware of Von Trier’s stylistic and narrative juxtapositions. Many of the films’ most memorable and poignant scenes echo the prologue’s imagery and seem almost directly copied from famous classical paintings. Von Trier takes a lot of care in creating these visual motifs as he did in his last film, Antichrist, which featured multiple slo-motion images that seemed to burn into your memory as visually and thematically symbolic and portentous.

On the flipside, during the majority of the narrative Von Trier has also typically chosen to go against the grain in almost every way in approaching an apocalyptic story. His choice of camerawork feels spontaneous and fluid considering he breaks almost every rule in the cinematography handbook with shaky, sometimes awkward handheld staging reminiscent of a home movie only professionally lensed. The key narrative difference is Von Trier focuses on a small group of characters staying at a secluded estate in the countryside rather than, for example, a large ensemble living in a major city that would befit a movie of the week. By narrowing his gaze on this small group Von Trier is able to build to a specific and poignant climax for Justine and Claire that serves to deepen the mystery and layered meaning of the events that came before and end his frightfully brilliant and somber film with a bang.

A Note about the Screening: Melancholia was shown in a limited engagement at the Silent Movie Theater presented by the Cinefamily from November 26th through the 29th. The Cinefamily has been, for several years, one of the few premiere venues in Los Angeles for Brilliant, Odd, Independent and Must-See Cinema outside of the typical Studio Blockbuster orbit. It is a beautiful not-so-hidden gem of Southern California Cinephile’s landscape not dissimilar from the likes of Melancholia itself. Thank you, Cinefamily, for the unique and quality film screenings you offer to our community!

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To see more from Michael Okum, visit: http://evilmonito.com/author/mokum/ as well as his personal projects at: http://www.michaelokum.com/