Melancholia

Film Analysis

I chose the film Melancholia for my film analysis. I chose Melancholia because Alexander Starsgard stars in it, and I have enjoyed his American shows and movies. Melancholia is a Danish art film that was released in 2011, staring Kirsten Dunst, Charlotte Gainsbourg, and Alexander Skarsgård. This film was both written and directed by Lars van Trier. You can find this film on Netflix.

Lars von Trier was born on April 30, 1956 in Copenhagen, Denmark. He became interested in film when his mother gave him a Super 8 film camera as a present. He was so interested in the technology that he began filming everything. He graduated in 1983 from Danish Film School with his short film “Befrielsesbilleder,” also known as “Images of Relief,” which he won the Best Film award with at the Munich Film Festival. Lars von Trier was born Lars Trier, and later added the “von” when his fellow school peers gave him the nickname “von Trier,” suggesting nobility, as a short of inside-joke. Many of Lars von Trier’s films are dramas, and disturbing dramas at that. Lars von Trier’s films usually are an interpretation of his own life experiences. Such as Melancholia for example, is an interpretation of the depression Lars von Trier suffered through himself. This is shown through Justine (Kirsten Dunst). His parents were both nudists, and didn’t really encourage feelings, religion, or enjoyment at home. He had a very difficult relationship with his mother, on her deathbed she revealed to him that the father he had always known was not his biological father. Lars von Trier puts himself into all of his movies.

Melancholia open’s is a very different way then I have seen in other films, such as American films. The opening scenes are almost painting like images, although there are slight movements in the images. The first five to eight minutes of the opening scenes are these slightly moving images with music playing in the background. The painting light images are very colorful,...