* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: [[http://www.salon.com/2011/11/10/interview_charlotte_gainsbourg_talks_von_triers_melancholia/ According to Charlotte Gainsbourg]], Claire's life really isn't as perfect as it seems; essentially, she's doing exactly what she accuses Justine of doing, going through the rituals of life for the sake of it without actually being happy. On the other hand, many viewers tend to regard Claire as the more sympathetic sister.
-->"For me, it’s like she’s pretending to be a mother, pretending to be a wife, pretending to take care of the house. Nothing’s really truthful. That’s the way I find it, but I don’t think Lars had this vision of my character being so cold and, um — antipathique? I didn’t like myself. It was interesting — not to fight against the character, because I really was her and I felt for her. But I felt ashamed. In those scenes where the end is close and I start crying — the whole thing is about being so naive!"
* AngstDissonance: For some viewers, the overwrought angst is enough to push the whole thing into {{Narm}} territory.
* AwardSnub:
** This was never the kind of film that the Academy would respond to, but it did appear on many Top 10 lists that year, and quite a number of people thought that Kirsten Dunst would've made for a fine Best Actress nominee. Notably, she actually managed to claim the Best Actress prize at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival.
** Cannes juries invoked this. Creator/OlivierAssayas, who was one of the Cannes jurors back in 2011, [[https://www.indiewire.com/2020/05/cannes-jury-melancholia-palme-dor-tree-of-life-1202234293/ revealed]] that a majority of juries initially wanted to give this movie the festival's top prize [[UsefulNotes/PalmedOr Palme d'Or]]. However, because of von Trier's controversial Nazi remarks along with Jury President Creator/RobertDeNiro's lack of familiarity with international cinema, the juries decided to give the award to Creator/TerrenceMalick's ''Film/TheTreeOfLife''.
* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: The use of Music/RichardWagner's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-qoaioG2UA "Tristan and Isolde Prelude"]] throughout the movie sets the tone [[WorldHalfEmpty for the movie.]]
* BestKnownForTheFanservice: Lad magazines say that it's worth watching this [[TearJerker depressing]] movie just to see Creator/KirstenDunst in all her naked glory.
* FridgeHorror: A mild one, considering the tone of the movie, but [[spoiler: upon discovering that John has committed suicide due to the impending collision, Claire releases his horse, Abraham, and lies to Leo and Justine that John is riding him to the village. Later, when Justine goes to comfort Leo, he's outside... staring at Abraham, who's grazing on the golf course. Leo says his father told him that if Melancholia and Earth do collide, nothing will protect them. He doesn't bring John up again, even when taking shelter in the magic cave with the rest of his family. The implication is that he knew something bad happened to his usually levelheaded father, and probably also suspected that the end was coming. He was certainly strong, but he may not have [[LetThemDieHappy died as peacefully]] as his aunt hoped]].
* HilariousInHindsight:
** Lighting and sending sky lanterns with names and heartfelt notes floating into the night is typically performed on the day of the Bon Festival in Japan, and is essentially the Buddhist equivalent to the Day of The Dead.
** A (formally) depressed director tells a story that features the end of the world, a giant object hitting the earth, and all the main characters have emotional/mental problems... [[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion where has that been done before?]] As if that weren't enough, an instrumental version of "Fly Me To The Moon" plays at one point during the wedding.
* JerkassWoobie : Justine. Yes, she is unpleasant but she suffer from depression and her family don't understand her.
* OvershadowedByControversy: Raise your hands, how people heard of this movie only because of the infamous "Nazi" flubs of the director?
* TearJerker: Pretty much the last ten minutes, possibly the entire movie.
* TooBleakStoppedCaring: Depending on if they find the protagonists annoying, some people [[RootingForTheEmpire may find themselves rooting for the planet to hurry up and hit the earth]]. Of course, one of the protagonists also finds everything annoying and is rooting for the planet to hurry up and hit the earth.
* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: Justine. Her borderline catatonic and nihilistic state throughout the movie clashes with the ''extremely human'' responses of wishing for safety (John) and trying to protect their child (Claire). Combined with her boinking an ad agent during the first act and mocking her sister's desire [[spoiler: for a peaceful end]] during the last act, and it's hard to view her as anything but a despicable human being.
** [[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation However]], jury's out how unintentional that is supposed to be - [[TruthInTelevision people suffering from depression can be prone to cruelty towards others in a self-destructive manner, with some experiencing their disorders primarily through anger]], on top of the fact that Justine is dealing with the end of the world.
* SugarWiki/VisualEffectsOfAwesome: The first eight minutes, [[spoiler:and the destruction of Earth at the end]].
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