MONDAY 17 NOV – H 18:30 – ROOM 1

MELANCHOLIA
DENMARK – 2011 – color – 130’

Direction: Lars von Trier
Screenplay: Lars von Trier
Cinematography: Manuel Alberto Claro
Editing: Molly Malene Stensgaard
Production design: Jette Lehmann
Costumes: Manon Rasmussen
Cast: Kirsten Dunst (Justine), Charlotte Gainsbourg (Claire), Kiefer Sutherland (John), Alexander Skarsgård (Michael), Stellan Skarsgård (Jack), Jesper Christensen (little father),Charlotte Rampling (Gaby), John Hurt (Dexter), UdoKier (wedding planner), Brady Corbet (Tim)
Producers: Meta Louise Foldager Sørensen, Louise Vesth
Production: Zentropa
Italian distribution: Bim

Synopsis
Justine arrives with her new husband at the wedding reception her sister Claire and brother-in-law have organized with an upbeat sense of ceremony. Justine smiles a lot, but inside she feels a deep unease that prompts her, on several occasions, to withdraw from the celebration. This causes bafflement among many, including her husband. However, this is not merely a matter of private existential distress. A grave threat looms over the Earth as the planet Melancholia is approaching, and although the scientific community is calling for optimism, the risk of collision and total destruction of the Earth is more real than ever.

critical note
“(…) gives us a spine-chilling overture: set to the prelude from Tristan and Isolde, which opens with a mechanical symphony, an imaginative omen of what is to come— an imprisoned bride, a mother and child swallowed up by a golf course, and the planet ready to bring destruction to the Earth. Dürer-like tableaux vivants, all etched in the very substance of chemical dreams: the reaction feels familiar, the physiological pH of a personal implosion that reorganizes Trier’s previous works. The actors are magnificent: Sutherland, Rampling, Hurt, and the two ‘knife-wielding sisters’—Kirsten Dunst (protagonist of the first symphonic movement, with her now-iconic “moon tan”) and Charlotte Gainsbourg (second movement)—between whom Lars divides Cries and Whispers, pictorial coldness, and emotional realism. Until the confession that comes at a high cost: being the control freak he is, he pillories the very idea of control—whether social (marriage) or scientific (Kiefer’s calculations). It’s the end, my dear.”
(Federico Pontiggia, Il Fatto Quotidiano, October 20, 2011)

main festivals & awards
2011 Festival di Cannes – Competition: Best Actress
2011 European Film Award: Best Film, Cinematographer – Prix Carlo di Palma, Production Designer
2011 Association of Polish Filmmakers Critics Awards: Honorable Mention
2012 French Syndicate of Cinema Critics: Best Foreign Film
2012 National Society of Film Critics Awards, USA: Best Film, Actress
2012 Bodil Awards: Best Film, Cinematography
2012 Danish Film Awards: Best Film, Director, Screenplay, Editing, Cinematography, Actress, Supporting Actress (Charlotte Gainsbourg), Supporting Actor (Alexander Skarsgård), Production Design, Sound, Special Effects