MELANCHOLIA (2011, Lars von Trier, A++++++++++)

MELANCHOLIA (Lars von Trier) unintentionally helps me prepare my mind for my inevitable death. I mean everybody will die sooner or later, but I don't want to be like Claire, who can't deal with this fact. I want to be like Justine, who made me realize that death is a fact of life.

Below is what Lars von Trier said in Film Comment:

"I went from very, very strong anxiety into depression, and it was actually a relief because my depression was kind of giving up, whereas anxiety is adrenaline all the time."

"My technique is that I divide my personality into the characters that I write, and then very early on they get a life of their own."


"Justine's kind of calling for this planet somehow. Maybe it's more a feeling than a planet. And I think that with melancholia, there's a bittersweetness to the feeling."

"At a certain point, you kind of give up. You know, like the little bird that the cat gets: at a certain point you say, Okay, eat me for Christ's sake."


The painting shown here is OPHELIA (1852, John Everett Millais), which is an inspiration for one scene in the film.