History Film / Melancholia

* ApocalypticMontage: [[spoiler:The movie opens with a [[Creator/RichardWagner dramatic]] montage depicting events leading up to the collision.]]

* XMeetsY: It's DespairEventHorizon: ''TheMovie'' meets ''Film/DeepImpact''.

* {{Deuteragonist}}: Either Claire or Justine.

Like Von Trier's [[{{Film/Antichrist}} previous movie]], '' Melancholia'' was surrounded by some consternation at the Cannes Film Festival. Von Trier's jokes about UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler and UsefulNotes/NaziGermany resulted in him being declared a ''[[DudeNotFunny persona non grata]]''[[note]]In 2017 however, [[http://www.indiewire.com/2017/03/lars-von-trier-the-house-that-jack-built-cannes-1201791773/ this ban might be lifted]][[/note]]. Dunst's performance was praised, however, and she walked away with the Best Actress Award.

Like Von Trier's [[{{Film/Antichrist}} previous movie]], '' Melancholia'' was surrounded by some consternation at the Cannes Film Festival. Von Trier's jokes about UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler and UsefulNotes/NaziGermany resulted in him being declared a ''[[DudeNotFunny persona non grata]]''. Dunst's performance was praised, however, and she walked away with the Best Actress Award.

[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/melcnholia_5966.jpg]]

* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: Pretty much breaks the scale on the cynicism side. It doesn't really matter that the world is going to end and possibly all life in the universe will be extinguished; Life is so shitty and devoid of meaning that it's a good, perhaps even beautiful thing. Sort of justified, in that the whole scenario is a metaphor for depression, except that the director is pretty much romanticizing it with this film.

''Melancholia'' is a 2011 SpeculativeFiction film written and directed by Creator/LarsVonTrier. It mainly focuses on the relationship between the [[SiblingYinYang two sisters Justine and Claire]], played by Creator/KirstenDunst and Charlotte Gainsbourg. The movie is divided into two parts, the first about Justine's wedding, the second about the upcoming fly-by of the rogue planet [[DoubleMeaningTitle Melancholia]] that's drifting through the solar system. The focus lies on how the characters relate to the events surrounding them, from the mundane event of a wedding to the possibility of a planetary collision.

* ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin

* {{Book Ends}}: [[spoiler: The opening montage shows Earth crashing into Melancholia. The movie ends with a view from the surface.]]

'''''Melancholia''''' is a 2011 SpeculativeFiction film written and directed by Creator/LarsVonTrier. It mainly focuses on the relationship between the [[SiblingYinYang two sisters Justine and Claire]], played by Creator/KirstenDunst and Charlotte Gainsbourg. The movie is divided into two parts, the first about Justine's wedding, the second about the upcoming fly-by of the rogue planet [[DoubleMeaningTitle Melancholia]] that's drifting through the solar system. The focus lies on how the characters relate to the events surrounding them, from the mundane event of a wedding to the possibility of a planetary collision.

* BlessedWithSuck: Von Trier basically explores the idea how people with depression can function better than other under certain circumstances.

* OhCrap: [[spoiler: Claire's realisation that Melancholia is coming back around after its fly-by.]]

* {{Bookends}}: [[spoiler: The opening montage shows Earth crashing into Melancholia. The movie ends with a view from the surface.]]

* BookEnds: [[spoiler: The opening montage shows Earth crashing into Melancholia. The movie ends with a view from the surface.]]

* WriteWhatYouKnow: Von Trier got the idea for the movie while being treated for depression. Kirsten Dunst had also suffered from depression prior to the movie.

'''''Melancholia''''' is a 2011 SpeculativeFiction film written and directed by Creator/LarsVonTrier. It mainly focuses on the relationship between the [[SiblingYinYang two sisters Justine and Claire]], played by KirstenDunst and Charlotte Gainsbourg. The movie is divided into two parts, the first about Justine's wedding, the second about the upcoming fly-by of the rogue planet [[DoubleMeaningTitle Melancholia]] that's drifting through the solar system. The focus lies on how the characters relate to the events surrounding them, from the mundane event of a wedding to the possibility of a planetary collision.

* ArtisticLicenseAstronomy: Von Trier has mentioned he was never interested in depicting the astronomical events accurately. In a nutsell: Melancholia couldn't have hidden behind the sun without being visible for very long, it couldn't have concealed Antares for more than a few moments, and even a flyby could potentially be disastrous.[[note]]It might "slingshot" the Earth out of orbit, and the tidal forces could also wreak havoc, depending on Melancholia's mass.[[/note]]
** Really, as ''Brows Held High'' pointed out, the whole idea of Melancholia passing through our entire solar system to hit the fairly small Earth rather than ''any'' of the other celestial bodies around it is so cosmically improbable as to be laughable, making Melancholia seem less like a rogue planet and more like tourist magically flying around space. In all honesty with what's portrayed on-screen, Melancholia should've just floated into the sun and been vaporized before it came ''anywhere'' near Earth.
** Melancholia's trajectory – first crossing Earth's orbit in a flyby, then receding, only to approach Earth again, while Earth's orbit doesn't change at all – suggests that Melancholia actually experienced sufficient gravitational pull while passing Earth to knock the former out of its orbit. This would imply that Melancholia's mass is ''much'' smaller than the Earth's (i.e. even smaller than that of Earth's moon). However, in the opening montage we see that [[spoiler:Earth ''shatters'' at the impact while Melancholia doesn't experience any sort of noteworthy deformation, which in turn would suggest that Melancholia is either massive, has a very dense crust or an atmosphere that's sufficiently dense that it could crush the Earth. Either possibility implies that Melancholia's mass is ''huge''. It also has sufficient mass to sap Earth's atmosphere even while flying by at a "safe" distance.]]

** It's never stated that Justine got her insight from or during depression. It's very possible that her special knowledge caused her depression.

Like Von Trier's [[{{Film/Antichrist}} previous movie]], '' Melancholia'' was surrounded by some consternation at the Cannes Film Festival. Von Trier's jokes about AdolfHitler and NaziGermany resulted in him being declared a ''[[DudeNotFunny persona non grata]]''. Dunst's performance was praised, however, and she walked away with the Best Actress Award.

** Melancholia's trajectory – first crossing Earth's orbit in a flyby, then receding, only to approach Earth again, while Earth's orbit doesn't change at all – suggests that Melancholia actually experienced sufficient gravitational pull while passing Earth to knock the former out of its orbit. This would imply that Melancholia's mass is ''much'' smaller than the Earth's (i.e. even smaller than that of Earth's moon). However, in the opening montage we see that [[spoiler:Earth ''shatters'' at the impact while Melancholia doesn't experience any sort of noteworthy deformation, which in turn would suggest that Melancholia is either massive, has a very dense crust or an atmosphere that's sufficiently dense that it could crush the Earth. Either possibility implies that Melancholia's mass is ''huge''. It also has sufficient mass to sap Earth's atmosphere even while slying by at a "safe" distance.]]

** Melancholia's trajectory – first crossing Earth's orbit in a flyby, then receding, only to approach Earth again – suggests that Melancholia actually experienced sufficient gravitational pull while passing Earth to knock the former out of its orbit. This would imply that Melancholia's mass is ''much'' smaller than the Earth's. However, in the opening montage we see that [[spoiler:Earth ''shatters'' at the impact while Melancholia doesn't experience any sort of noteworthy deformation, which in turn would suggest that Melancholia is either massive, has a very thick crust or an atmosphere that's sufficiently dense that the friction could crush the Earth. Either possibility implies that Melancholia's mass is ''huge''.]]

** Justine herself, being aloof towards her new husband and cheating on him on their wedding night. Plus some of the things she says to her sister, including [[spoiler:mocking her plea of how to spend their final hour and making Claire do it her own way.]]

* NotEvenBotheringWithTheAccent: Everyone in the film uses their natural accent, so it's not clear where the film takes place. Claire and Justine are sisters with British parents, but Dunst as Justine uses her American accent. She works for a Swedish man who has a nephew with an American accent. The resort's butler is Danish and the wedding has a German planner. Claire is married to an American man and their child has an American accent.