Before I say anything, about Melancholia, I will say that Antichrist was not my cup of tea. It wasn't the very confronting sex scenes or my fear of Willem Dafoe (okay maybe that had something to do with it, also the fact that he was in said confronting sex scenes) that left me uncomfortable. It just didn't sit well with me. So I was expecting this movie to be like most arty movies (read: pretentious pseudo intellectual-philosophical bullshit).
Luckily I was incredibly wrong.
The film is divided into two parts, one for each sister. The first half is about Justine (Kirsten Dunst), the bride whose life is falling apart on the night of her wedding. The second is about Claire (Charlotte Gainsbourg) who is afraid that the approaching planet will destroy the earth despite the assurance of her husband (Kiefer Sutherland).
Two sisters, one afraid of life and the other of death, both having to face what they fear. It's a really clever premise and a nice take on the usual 'end of the world' movie, here there's no Bruce Willis to save you. Nor are there any strange futuristic weapons or CGI people falling into huge cracks in the ground, poor things.
This is a wonderfully good looking film, every shot is artfully done. It's just so beautiful to look at. It will leave you sighing. And Kirsten Dunst finally redeems herself for 'Bring It On' as well, in fact all the actors do a pretty good job (no surprise, I mean look at the cast, they have John Hurt for goodness sake!).
The soundtrack borrows from Wagner's Prelude from Tristan and Isolde and there's a really great pairing between what you see and what you hear. They compliment each other perfectly. It's so moody and melancholic I just had to put up the whole thing for all to hear.
