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Melancholia

  • 20112011
  • RR
  • 2h 15m
IMDb RATING
7.1/10
181K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
2,382
388
Kirsten Dunst in Melancholia (2011)
Justine (Kirsten Dunst) and Michael (Alexander Skarsgård) are celebrating their marriage at a sumptuous party in the home of her sister (Charlotte Gainsbourg) and brother-in-law (Kiefer Sutherland). Meanwhile, the planet, Melancholia, is heading towards Earth...
Play trailer2:14
6 Videos
99+ Photos
  • Drama
  • Sci-Fi
Two sisters find their already strained relationship challenged as a mysterious new planet threatens to collide with Earth.Two sisters find their already strained relationship challenged as a mysterious new planet threatens to collide with Earth.Two sisters find their already strained relationship challenged as a mysterious new planet threatens to collide with Earth.
IMDb RATING
7.1/10
181K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
2,382
388
  • Director
    • Lars von Trier
  • Writer
    • Lars von Trier
  • Stars
    • Kirsten Dunst
    • Charlotte Gainsbourg
    • Kiefer Sutherland
Top credits
  • Director
    • Lars von Trier
  • Writer
    • Lars von Trier
  • Stars
    • Kirsten Dunst
    • Charlotte Gainsbourg
    • Kiefer Sutherland
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 728User reviews
    • 426Critic reviews
    • 80Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 35 wins & 95 nominations

    Videos6

    U.S. Version
    Trailer 2:14
    U.S. Version
    International Trailer #2
    Trailer 1:13
    International Trailer #2
    Melancholia: International Trailer #1
    Trailer 1:59
    Melancholia: International Trailer #1
    Melancholia
    Clip 1:35
    Melancholia
    "The Earth Is Evil"
    Clip 0:49
    "The Earth Is Evil"
    Kirsten Dunst
    Interview 2:53
    Kirsten Dunst

    Photos118

    Kirsten Dunst, Charlotte Gainsbourg, and Alexander Skarsgård in Melancholia (2011)
    Kirsten Dunst in Melancholia (2011)
    Kirsten Dunst and Charlotte Gainsbourg in Melancholia (2011)
    Kiefer Sutherland in Melancholia (2011)
    Kirsten Dunst, Charlotte Gainsbourg, and Cameron Spurr in Melancholia (2011)
    Kirsten Dunst, Kiefer Sutherland, Charlotte Gainsbourg, and Alexander Skarsgård in Melancholia (2011)
    Kirsten Dunst in Melancholia (2011)
    Kirsten Dunst, Kiefer Sutherland, and Alexander Skarsgård in Melancholia (2011)
    Lars von Trier in Melancholia (2011)
    Kirsten Dunst, Charlotte Gainsbourg, and Cameron Spurr in Melancholia (2011)
    Kirsten Dunst in Melancholia (2011)
    Lars von Trier in Melancholia (2011)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Kirsten Dunst
    Kirsten Dunst
    • Justineas Justine
    Charlotte Gainsbourg
    Charlotte Gainsbourg
    • Claireas Claire
    Kiefer Sutherland
    Kiefer Sutherland
    • Johnas John
    Alexander Skarsgård
    Alexander Skarsgård
    • Michaelas Michael
    Brady Corbet
    Brady Corbet
    • Timas Tim
    Cameron Spurr
    • Leoas Leo
    Charlotte Rampling
    Charlotte Rampling
    • Gabyas Gaby
    Jesper Christensen
    Jesper Christensen
    • Little Fatheras Little Father
    John Hurt
    John Hurt
    • Dexteras Dexter
    Stellan Skarsgård
    Stellan Skarsgård
    • Jackas Jack
    Udo Kier
    Udo Kier
    • Wedding Planneras Wedding Planner
    James Cagnard
    • Michael's Fatheras Michael's Father
    Deborah Fronko
    • Michael's Motheras Michael's Mother
    Charlotta Miller
    • Betty 1as Betty 1
    Claire Miller
    • Betty 2as Betty 2
    Gary Whitaker
    • Limo Driveras Limo Driver
    Katrine A. Sahlstrøm
    • Girl with Guitaras Girl with Guitar
    • (as Katrine Acheche Sahlstrøm)
    Christian Geisnæs
    • Wedding Photographeras Wedding Photographer
    • Director
      • Lars von Trier
    • Writer
      • Lars von Trier
    • All cast & crew
    • See more cast details at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      The image of Justine (Kirsten Dunst) floating down the stream with her bouquet was inspired by John Everett Millais' 1852 painting "Ophelia."
    • Goofs
      One cannot view the same constellation (Scorpius) at the same location in the celestial sky from late evening to early morning due to the Earth's rotation.
    • Quotes

      Justine: I smile, and I smile, and I smile.

    • Connections
      Edited from Journey in Classic Era (2021)
    • Soundtracks
      Excerpts from Tristan und Isolde
      Music: Richard Wagner

      Orchestra: The City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra (as The City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra)

      Conductor: Richard Hein

      Recorder: Jan Holzner

      Solo cello: Henrik Dam Thomsen

      Arrangements by Kristian Eidnes Andersen

    User reviews728

    Review
    Top review
    Lars von Trier's Wagnerian opera of 2011 - the Ragnarok of western capitalism
    Melancholia is LVT's Wagnerian opera. Justine is a mythological creation. She is the white goddess, Diana bathing, la Belle Dame Sans Merci, Cassandra tormented by futurity. It ends in Gottedammerung, the destruction of the world.

    The Cannes jury was right to honour it. In 2, 10 or 100 years this will be manifestly THE film of 2011, capturing as it does this precise historical moment, on the cusp of epochs. More than just an economic crisis, or even the end of Western capitalism, or the American Century, or of Europe - though it is all that - it is the consummation in fire of all we have ever known. Leaders and experts sit mesmerised and powerless, making reassuring noises, or setting aside puny provisions; taking shelter in denial or custom. While Melancholia and Earth act out their dance of death; gravity, the most ineluctable force in the universe, does its work.

    Justine, being incapable of happiness, is therefore incapable of illusion. She has always known. Herself untouched by affect, by human assimilation or persuasion, she writes the killer tag lines which manipulate others. Having a damaged soul, she suffers from a disorder of perception - she sees things as they actually are. She knows precisely how many beans are in the jar -like those who called the top of the Dow Jones index, at 12807 exactly. On one level, she represents the spirit of financialisation, the final, hottest white dwarf phase of capitalism, quantifying, inhumane, ultra-competitive (seen also in Skaarsgard's brutal ad boss, and in the brother-in-law who paid for the wedding - "an arm and a leg, for most people" -he means it literally I think - chilling!) And, like the Sybil, Justine wants to die. She wills the destruction of herself and everything else. 'The Earth is evil.'

    LVT is the holy idiot of European cinema. Much as Justine destroys her stellar career, then hours later, in the garden, consciously and irrevocably obliterates her marriage and future happiness, so LVT - in the most perfect example of parallel process - in his acceptance speech at Cannes compulsively befouls himself, his credibility, future opportunities, his film and all associated with it. (Poor Dunst, beside him. Did she always know? I wonder.)

    Which brings me to Kirsten Dunst.Once the all-American teenage sweetie in some of my favourite films.(The US invented the teenager, much as the English Victorians invented childhood, and its richest and most creative seam of film and TV deal with this stage of life. In a way, America is the world's teenager; and all teenagers are Americans by proxy.) In fact, Dunst is German-American, with all the ancestral baggage that implies. (Read Sylvia Plath's 'Daddy' if you don't know what I mean). Beneath the apple-pie sunny exterior of her teen roles, there was always something remote and uncanny about her beauty. And now, with teen / young adult roles behind her, this strangeness, this well, German-ness, is exposed. In the riveting opening shots of 'Melancholia' she looks like Marlene Dietrich - unheimlich, fascinating. Like la Belle Dame Sans Merci, she takes possession of a man through his unconscious: like the groom in the film, he will follow her, exchanging all that is dear - home, family and hope of happiness - for bitterness and despair.

    In the scene in the limo, the earliest, lightest part of the story, she seems American, in accent, face, body, She becomes less American , more northern European, and ultimately less like a human being at all, as her story unwinds. Those who criticise the inconsistency in her accent are missing the point. The change is about the character, not her nationality, which is purposely vague. (In fact, in what country does the film take place? Would you ask that question of 'the Ring'?)

    I get the impression that just as Lars is working through some issues around his German-ness – hence the Wagnerianism -, so is Dunst, which must have made his Cannes performance doubly excruciating. (I hear she wants to be called 'Keersten' now, pronounced the German way.) For the girl who has been being other people superbly well from her childhood, it seems to me that Dunst the adult truly exposes something painfully real of herself in this film. ('Exposing' is the right word in every way.)

    And she pulls it off. The film is stunning. She is stunning, and thoroughly deserves Best Actress. Bravo, Lars von Trier!
    helpful•426
    253
    • hedgehog5
    • Oct 1, 2011

    FAQ1

    • What is the music used for the opening of the film?

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • May 26, 2011 (Denmark)
    • Countries of origin
      • Denmark
      • Sweden
      • France
      • Germany
    • Official sites
      • Official Facebook
      • Official site
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Melancholia: Ngày Tận Thế
    • Filming locations
      • Tjolöholm Castle, Fjärås, Sweden
    • Production companies
      • Zentropa Entertainments
      • Memfis Film
      • Zentropa International Sweden
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $7,400,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $3,030,848
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $257,174
      • Nov 13, 2011
    • Gross worldwide
      • $17,039,814
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      2 hours 15 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby Digital
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.35 : 1

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