Melancholia

[fromthatshow]

Has anyone ever seen this movie?  It's by Lars Von Trier (my favorite director).  It opens with a series of slow motion scenes with classical music playing in the background, setting the mood perfectly.  Then it spends a great deal of time showing you the before during and after of a character named Justine's wedding.  Justine has very bad depression, and goes into an episode during the wedding that gets worse and worse.  There are many scenes with which I can strongly relate to.  You can see the pain behind her fake smiles during the wedding.  I sympathize with her even at her most extreme and irresponsible moments.  She's constantly isolating herself at key points during the wedding, and holding everything up because she is overwhelmed or just disconnected.

Also, as this is going on, there is a planet called "Melancholia" that is about to hit Earth.  They think it is going to pass by Earth, but are not certain.  Suddenly, as they start to believe they will be hit, and begin to lose hope of surviving it, the tables are turned, and Justine becomes quite calm and content, while those around her start to panic.

I thought it was an absolutely beautiful movie and would recommend it for anyone who can handle slower-paced films.