233 replies to this topic

[Ryan H.]

Todd Brown has seen the promo for MELANCHOLIA.

First thing Saturday morning I was fortunate enough to be present at a screening of the first promo for Lars Von Trier's upcoming science fiction apocalypse film Melancholia. In short, it is gorgeous - instantly recognizable as Von Trier's work and very likely the most commercial iteration of his talent that we have seen yet. This in no way implies that he has dumbed things down, just that the wild transgressions of Antichrist are not present here - where they would be entirely inappropriate - and that the imagery is so beautiful that this is a film that you could clearly cut one hell of a trailer for.

I'm not going to go too much into specifics but the promo makes it very clear that Kirsten Dunst's character will be the focal point here with the likes of John Hurt, Alexander Skarsgard and Charlotte Gainsbourg filling secondary roles. The premise is simply enough - a planet hidden behind the sun emerges on a collision course with the Earth - and a family must come to terms with the inevitability of what is to come. Though firmly grounded in reality there are a lot of special effects in this and they are integrated seamlessly, shots of static electricity arcing off skin and dead birds falling from the sky in super slow motion being particularly effective.

[Persona]

Thanks, Ryan! Sounds like this has a chance to be LvT's make-up call from the critics.

Edited by Persona, 14 February 2011 - 09:20 PM.

[Ryan H.]

It does. I have to say, even loathing ANTICHRIST as much as I do, the description of what MELANCHOLIA has in store has me intrigued.

[Persona]

Ryan H., on 14 February 2011 - 09:22 PM, said:

It does. I have to say, even loathing ANTICHRIST as much as I do, the description of what MELANCHOLIA has in store has me intrigued.

You do realize that my term "make-up call" should imply they got it wrong at least one other time, right?...

[Ryan H.]

Persona, on 14 February 2011 - 09:27 PM, said:

Ryan H., on 14 February 2011 - 09:22 PM, said:

It does. I have to say, even loathing ANTICHRIST as much as I do, the description of what MELANCHOLIA has in store has me intrigued.

You do realize that my term "make-up call" should imply they got it wrong at least one other time, right?...

Sure. I thought it was clear that I was affirming your statement.

[Persona]

I guess it is a generalization on my part to lump all critics in the anti-LvT mode, and maybe I am being unclear here (it certainly wouldn't be the first time!), but I did not realize you included yourself in his camp. Which is only another reason to like you more. So don't blow it in your next response, turncoat.

[Nathan Douglas]

[url="http://vimeo.com/22072654"]http://vimeo.com/22072654[/url]

[Anders]

N.W. Douglas, on 08 April 2011 - 08:42 AM, said:

[url="http://vimeo.com/22072654"]http://vimeo.com/22072654[/url]

Looks great. I go back and forth on whether I think Von Trier is great or not, but I watched EUROPA (ZENTROPA) last month and am back in the "great" camp at the moment.

[Ryan H.]

That trailer has definitely launched it onto my must-see list.

Edited by Ryan H., 08 April 2011 - 10:49 AM.

[Benchwarmer]

Ryan H., on 08 April 2011 - 10:49 AM, said:

That trailer has definitely launched it onto my must-see list.

Strange. It kinda did the opposite for me!

[Ryan H.]

Benchwarmer, on 21 April 2011 - 07:18 PM, said:

Ryan H., on 08 April 2011 - 10:49 AM, said:

That trailer has definitely launched it onto my must-see list.

Strange. It kinda did the opposite for me!

Sue me, but I'm a sucker for beautiful cinematography, and MELANCHOLIA looks gorgeous.

[Persona]

Ryan H., on 22 April 2011 - 11:12 AM, said:

Benchwarmer, on 21 April 2011 - 07:18 PM, said:

Ryan H., on 08 April 2011 - 10:49 AM, said:

That trailer has definitely launched it onto my must-see list.

Strange. It kinda did the opposite for me!

Sue me, but I'm a sucker for beautiful cinematography, and MELANCHOLIA looks gorgeous.

In other words, it looks like a LvT film.

[Tyler]

I just noticed that Udo Kier's role in the movie is "Wedding Planner."

Only in LvT.

[Ryan H.]

Persona, on 22 April 2011 - 12:20 PM, said:

In other words, it looks like a LvT film.

Eh, LvT has made some not-so-attractive films.

[Persona]

Ryan H., on 22 April 2011 - 02:39 PM, said:

Persona, on 22 April 2011 - 12:20 PM, said:

In other words, it looks like a LvT film.

Eh, LvT has made some not-so-attractive films.

Only one that I know of, which wasn't his fault, it can be blamed on Automavision.

[Ryan H.]

Persona, on 22 April 2011 - 04:36 PM, said:

Ryan H., on 22 April 2011 - 02:39 PM, said:

Persona, on 22 April 2011 - 12:20 PM, said:

In other words, it looks like a LvT film.

Eh, LvT has made some not-so-attractive films.

Only one that I know of, which wasn't his fault, it can be blamed on Automavision.

One that comes to mind: DANCER IN THE DARK.

[Persona]

Ryan H., on 22 April 2011 - 06:17 PM, said:

Persona, on 22 April 2011 - 04:36 PM, said:

Ryan H., on 22 April 2011 - 02:39 PM, said:

Persona, on 22 April 2011 - 12:20 PM, said:

In other words, it looks like a LvT film.

Eh, LvT has made some not-so-attractive films.

Only one that I know of, which wasn't his fault, it can be blamed on Automavision.

One that comes to mind: DANCER IN THE DARK.

That is an interesting claim, one which isn't typical as a reason to dislike the film. There are quite a few reasons I've seen over the years for people that DO dislike the film, but I don't remember too many people talking about the actual look, unless referring to the style itself. (Which most confuse as dogme, even though The Idiots is the only certified dogme film in the Golden Heart trilogy.)

I can't disagree with you though, only because it has been a decade or more since I've actually sat down and watched Dancer in the Dark. It's a film that I was thoroughly immersed in, but haven't had a desire to go back and see, mostly due to its ending. (I would like to see quite a few of the musical numbers sometime again.)

Edited by Persona, 22 April 2011 - 11:14 PM.

[Ryan H.]

ThePlaylist has some MELANCHOLIA footage: a clip, a TV spot, and an FX reel.

Looks like Von Trier's trademark miserablism is intact.

[Ryan H.]

Reviews are trickling in. This time, nobody seems outraged about the film, from what I can tell. The biggest controversy seems to be over some remarks Von Trier made about "understanding" Adolf Hitler during the press conference.

Dave Calhoun:

‘Melancholia’ isn’t a provocative or confrontational film but it’s too often a dull one. Von Trier takes his title at face value and infuses his film with a laidback, removed air, too free of real ideas, in contrast to the careful working of his imagery. That’s what’s really depressing.


Sukhdev Sandhu:

For a filmmaker often labelled a showman or ringmaster, Lars Von Trier has a peculiar approach to talking up his work. Ahead of this morning’s Competition premiere of Melancholia, which at times comes close to being a tragi-comic opera about the end of the world, he declared: “I may have made a film I don’t like.” Why? Because, he added, “This film is perilously close to the aesthetic of American mainstream films.”

Really? Only in the happily perverse head of the director of Breaking The Waves and the 2000 Palme d’Or-winning Dancer In the Dark, could Melancholia be seen as safe or traditional. It takes a baffling, almost bone-headed premise, the stuff of schlocky genre movies, and from it creates a mesmerizing, visually gorgeous and often-moving alloy of family drama, philosophical meditation and anti-golfing tract.


Eric Kohn:

Nothing in “Melancholia” can match the dazzling momentum of its opening sequence, which has the visual splendor of expressionistic sci-fi and the refined look of a morbid fashion commercial. It’s also a handy guide to the ominous event that concludes the movie and haunts everything leading up to that point—namely, the end of the world. Revisiting the bleak tones of his last feature, “Antichrist” - which began with a similarly hyper-stylized prologue - Von Trier has constructed a mesmerizing elaboration on his favorite motifs, masterfully elevating them to an epic scale.

Edited by Ryan H., 18 May 2011 - 08:08 AM.

[Overstreet]

More on Von Trier's troublemaking press conference from Pete Hammond: