Melancholia in Film

Melancholia

Depicting Melancholia in Film: Melancholia

The film Melancholia (2011), directed by Lars von Trier, is a science fiction film about the end of the world viewed through the eyes of a melancholic. The melancholic is Justine, who is played by Kirsten Dunst, and the end of the world is caused by the planet Melancholia crashing into earth. One of the more important relationships in the movie is between Justine and her sister Claire. Throughout most of the film, Justine is in the midst of a depressive episode while Claire acts as a caretaker; however, at the very end of the film the roles of invalid and caretaker are reversed as Claire begins to panic and Justine manages both Claire's and Claire's son's fear in the face of imminent death.

Although there is a prologue that casts a sense of foreboding on the initially happy and joyful...
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