Melancholia is an apocalyptic drama art film about a rogue planet colliding with Earth and follows the story of two sisters anticipating the world’s end. The film was written and directed by Lars von Trier, starring Kirsten Dunst, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Kiefer Sutherland, Alexander Skarsgård, Brady Corbet, Cameron Spurr, and more. Melancholia premiered in 2011 as the second film in von Trier’s Depression Trilogy, which was preceded by Antichrist in 2009, followed by Nymphomaniac in 2013.
After premiering at the 64th Cannes Film Festival, the film received widespread critical acclaim, and Dunst won the festival’s Best Actress Award for her performance. Melancholia has also been recognized as one of the best films of 2011, best films of the 2010s, and best films of the 21st century. From von Trier’s inspiration, to the film’s portrayal of depression, symbolism, soundtrack, and more, here’s why Melancholia is the best film on depression ever made.
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Trilogy, Inspiration, & Storyline
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Melancholia is the second film in von Trier’s Depression Trilogy, which includes the 2009 horror art film Antichrist, and the 2013 erotic art film Nymphomaniac. Antichrist follows a couple who lost their son and retreated to a cabin in the woods, where they experience visions, violent sexual behavior and sadomasochism. Melancholia is about two sisters anticipating the world’s end as a rogue planet heads towards colliding with Earth and the events experienced during the disaster. Nymphomaniac chronicles the life of a self-diagnosed “nymphomaniac”, who reflects on her erotic experiences to a bachelor who finds her brutally assaulted in an alleyway. The narratives each convey an exploration of the different manifestations stemming from von Trier’s personal experience with depression by utilizing female alter-egos to portray it.
Melancholia was inspired by von Trier’s experience in suffering from a depressive episode and the therapy sessions he attended while in treatment for his depression. A therapist told him that depressive people act more calmly than others when under duress, because they have already been anticipating the worst to occur. Von Trier then developed the story as an examination of the human psyche during a disaster, and the concept of a planetary collision was inspired by websites with similar theories. Von Trier clarified the world would end in the film to not distract audiences by the suspense of the unknown. When the film first released, von Trier described Melancholia as “A psychological disaster movie”, which is “a beautiful movie about the end of the world”.
Melancholia is about two sisters anticipating the world’s end as a planet is about to collide with Earth and how each sister internalizes the disaster. The film includes two sections, which represent each sister and are titled, “Part One: Justine”, portrayed by Dunst, and “Part Two: Claire", portrayed by Gainsbourg. As the rogue planet “Melancholia” approaches Earth, Justine experiences debilitating depression, becomes more detached from reality, and struggles to cope with her recently failed marriage. Meanwhile, Claire experiences heavy anxiety and loses her composure over the world ending, which contrasts with Justine, who calmly accepts the fate of the disaster happening. The storyline conveys that depressive people will be more calm than others during a disaster, because they have already been expecting the worst to happen.
Symbolism, Characters, & Visuals
Melancholia symbolizes aspects of mental illness through its depictions, characters, storyline, and portrayal of the differing experiences that people go through when in a disaster. The collision of Melancholia with Earth depicts how the onset of depression impacts the entire life of a person by inflicting an inevitable impending doom. The storyline about the world ending portrays the grandiose beliefs and flights of ideas that are real to a person when experiencing a depressive episode. The internalization of a traumatic event by different people symbolizes the effect that mental illness has on a person’s reactions to circumstances compared to others. The storyline of two sisters contrasting with each other is also symbolic of how suffering from mental illness causes one to experience events differently than others.
The concept of two sisters as main characters developed from Penélope Cruz wanting to work with von Trier, and recommending The Maids by Jean Genet. As von Trier attempted to write a role for Cruz, the two maids from Genet’s play evolved into the sisters Justine and Claire in Melancholia. The character of Justine and her personality were based on von Trier, and the name was inspired by the novel Justine by Marquis de Sade. The character of Claire depicts a naive personality type of someone who buys into life’s solidity, and is too fearful of dying to act appropriately. Both characters are representative of two different halves that fulfill the same whole, and each sister serves as a female alter ego of von Trier.
Melancholia is an exploration of the human psyche and unravels through a dream sequence which showcases visuals of catastrophic events happening; including motion shots of the characters, a falling horse, birds, butterflies, planets, and Earth in collision with a rogue planet–referred to in the movie as “The Dance of Death”. The film’s visuals portray darkness, upheaval, and a distorted sense of reality experienced as the characters perceive the inevitable demise of the world around them. Von Trier explained that he considered Melancholia “a good title", because the best art that he appreciates contains melancholia, saying, “‘Melancholia’ comes from a longing… For me, there is an element of longing.” He also said, “Oh, Melancholia is a comedy. You should see what happens when I try tragedy.”
Soundtrack, Accolades, & Impact
The soundtrack of Melancholia features music from Richard Wagner’s prelude of Act I of Tristan Und Isoldeto (1857–1859) as the only music throughout the film, excluding the plot’s pop songs. In interviews, Von Trier has shared that they went “overboard blasting Richard Wagner”, and explained, “for years, there has been this sort of unofficial film dogma not to cut to the music… It’s considered crass and vulgar. But that’s just what we do in Melancholia.” He continued saying the recurring use of the prelude is “supposed to be vulgar” and became “one of the most pleasurable things” he had done. The reiteration of the same music throughout the film conveys the themes of beauty, decay, and sexuality and the recurring notions of a depressive state.
Melancholia is widely renowned as a masterpiece by critics, film scholars, and fans worldwide, and considered the best film on depression ever made for its accurate portrayal of mental illness. The film is also considered to be the best of von Trier’s Depression Trilogy and one of his best works. Melancholia is impactful for its cinematography, symbolism, visuals, characters, and soundtrack featured in the film; which conveys von Trier’s personal experience with depression and an exploration of the human psyche. The apocalyptic film resonates with people everywhere because it realistically parallels a fictional story of an uncertain future with inevitable doom.
