Melancholia is possibly director Lars Von Triers most restrained film, and that may seem strange for a film where a planet named Melancholia threatens to crash into Earth and end life as we know it. The apocalyptic concern plays out in the background, ever creating a portent of doom and gloom over the proceedings. This feels right for a film largely about a character's struggle with depression -- something Von Trier personally dealt with.
Melancholia is one of the most original and keenly observed films on the issue of depression. The film really gives a great sense of the struggles of someone burdened with the mental illness, but it even more strongly gets right the ways in which people around the afflicted individual confront this knowledge. Most precisely, the film understands how people fail to truly grasp what the person is going through, think it's an easy fix, and often make it about themselves. Mental illness is still something most of society doesn't quite fully comprehend, and the stigmas associated with it make it difficult for those who experience it to overcome it and relate to the people in their lives. Depression hangs over people like a giant planet just biding its time to crash.
Grade:
★★★
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