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Melancholia


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SYNOPSIS

 

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In this beautiful movie about the end of the world, Justine (Kirsten Dunst) and Michael (Alexander Skarsgård) are celebrating their marriage at a sumptuous party in the home of her sister Claire (Charlotte Gainsbourg), and brother-in-law John (Kiefer Sutherland). Despite Claire’s best efforts, the wedding is a fiasco, with family tensions mounting and relationships fraying. Meanwhile, a planet called Melancholia is heading directly towards Earth… MELANCHOLIA is a psychological disaster film from director Lars von Trier.

PRODUCTION TEAM

Written and Directed by

Lars von Trier

Melancholia presented by Zentropa Entertainment
Film I Väst

Produced by Meta Louise Foldagerlouise Vesth

Executive Producers Peter Aalbæk Jensenpeter Garde

Director of Photography Manuel Alberto Claro dff

Visual Effects Supervisor Peter Hjorth

Editor Molly Malene Stensgaard

Sound Designer Kristian Eidnes Andersen

First Assistant Director Anders Refn

Production Designer Jette Lehmann

Art Director Simone Grau Roney

Costume Designer Manon Rasmussen

Hair & Makeup Designers Dennis Knudsen
& Linda Boije af Gennäs

Sound Mixer André Rigaut

Gaffer Aslak Lytthans

Post Producer Charlotte Buch

Visual Effects Producer Karen Maarbjerg

Line Producer Marianne Jul Hansen

Co-Produced by Memfis Film International ab
Lars Jönsson

CAST

Kirsten Dunst

Charlotte Gainsbourg

Alexander Skarsgård

Brady Corbet

Cameron Spurr

Charlotte Rampling

Jesper Christensen

John Hurt

Stellan Skarsgård

Udo Kier

and

Kiefer Sutherland

 

“A GIANT ACHIEVEMENT.A WORK OF GENIUS.A MOVIE MASTERPIECE.A profound emotional depth that transcends words.STUNNING.A MOVIE THAT LEAVES THE VIEWER IN A STATE OF ECSTACY.A moving masterpiece, marked by an astonishing profundity of vision.” – Lisa Scwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly

“A SPECTACLE IMPOSSIBLE TO TURN AWAY FROM.A MONUMENTALLY AMBITIOUS MOVIE. When I left the theatre, I felt light, rejuvenated and unconscionably happy.” - J. Hoberman, Village Voice

“AMAZINGLY ROMANTIC — LUSH, RIPE, RICH, DELICIOUS, CERTAINLY THE DIRECTOR’S MOST BEAUTIFUL FILM. EXCESSIVE IN EVERY WAY, AND YET RESTRAINED. EVERYTHING AND NOTHING THAT YOU'D EXPECT A FILM CALLED "MELANCHOLIA" TO BE.
This is where you begin to see why Dunst is getting the well-deserved raves for her performance, one that will no doubt earn her an Oscar nomination if not a win. It is quite extraordinary to see the life literally being extinguished in her eyes, even when the face is still doing its best to smile. Witnessing her emotional demons take hold, her descent into the tortured grip of depression, is as breathtaking as it is heartbreaking. Never has the actress been more naked, more emotionally exposed.
Von Trier has created a stunning treatise on family, relationships, expectations, tradition and depression that is as rich and layered as the towering wedding cake.” – Betsy Sharkey, LA Times

“ONE OF THE YEAR’S BEST.A career-defining performance from Kirsten Dunst” – ManohlaDarghis, NY Times

“A FILM THAT SWEEPS YOU UP AND TAKES YOU OUT OF YOURSELF with haunting themes expressed by gorgeous images, and a superlative performance by Kirsten Dunst. Sitting there watching pictures charged with strange poignancy, I COULD NOT HAVE BEEN HAPPIER.” – Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal

“MAGNIFICENT. The glorious prologue was OVERPOWERING, UNLIKE ANYTHING I HAD EXPERIENCED BEFORE AT THE MOVIES. Kirsten Dunst gives her career performance.” – Stuart Klawans, The Nation

“AMAZING.” – Richard Corliss, Time

“SURELY ONE OF THE MOST SPECTACULAR SCREEN ACHIEVEMENTS OF RECENT YEARS. Gorgeous, profoundly emotional, often very funnyand one of the most potent and effective visions of science-fiction apocalypse ever brought to the screen. Von Trier's made something tender and exquisite and metaphysical and vulnerable.” – Andrew O’Hehir, Salon

“Lars von Trier’s new spellbinder may be his most restrained, clear-minded, visionary work, AS WELL AS THE YEAR'S BEST FILM.” – Aaron Hillis, Village Voice

“THE INSPIRING WORK OF AN ARTIST OF SEEMINGLY BOUNDLESS IMAGINATIVE POWER.A masterwork of grandeur, millennial angst and high romantic style. Von Trier knows how to make pictures that move.” – Ann Hornaday, Washington Post

“A WONDER TO BEHOLD. Perhaps the most visually stunning picture you’ll see this season.” – Stephanie Zacharek, Movieline

“A POTENT BEAUTY OF A FILM.The luminous Dunst deservedly won the Best Actress prize at Cannes. Her incomparable performance, a slow accumulation of moods from despair to euphoria, never strikes a false note.” – Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

“**** How wonderful it is that us dyed-in-the-wool Von Trier-haters will now require a rethink. Melancholia marks the major return of the artist’s vitality. He’s back, bruised, AND THAT MUCH CLOSER TO BRILLIANT.” – Joshua Rothkopf, Time Out New York

“IT’S WORTH THE ADMISSION PRICE JUST TO SEE THE STUNNING SPECIAL EFECTS. One of the year’s most emotionally resonant art movies. Kirsten Dunst gives one of 2011’s most affecting performances.” – Lou Lumenick, NY Post

THE RAVISHING, MYSTERIOUS, AT ONCE BEAUTIFUL AND UNSETTLING IMAGES AREN”T ONLY MEANT TO THRILL, ALTHOUGH THEY DO. The wonder of Von Trier’s achievement is that ’Melancholia’ doesn’t feel miserable or depressing; IT’S NOT AN ORDEAL, BUT A JOURNEY. – Karen Durbin, Elle

“IN THE FACE OF SUCH AN ACHIEVEMENT, WHAT CAN YOU DO BUT SURRENDER TO MELANCHOLIA?” – David Edelstein, New York

“RIVETING.DEVASTATINGLY BEAUTIFUL. Von Trier is an artist we can’t ignore.” – Christy Lemire, AP

“**** A MASTERPIECE. Part disaster epic, part dysfunctional family drama, all effective, it resonates lone after the big bang.” – Mara Reinstein, US Weekly

“VISIONARY. My favorite film of the Cannes Film Festival.” – Karina Longworth, LA Weekly

“COMPLETELY EXHILARATING.” – Amy Taubin, Film Comment

“IT IS NOTHING SHORT OF A MASTERPIECE. I can't wait to see it again. It is, in every way, an astonishing achievement.” – Mark Rabinowitz, CNN

“It is one of the most beautiful, visually stunning, emotionally affecting films I have ever seen and is truly a masterpiece.” – Mark Rabinowitz, CNN

THE PROLOGUE IS FILMMAKING AT ITS MOST MAGNIFICENT, TRIPPY, MOMENTOUS, APOCALYPTIC, AND JUST SHOCKINGLY BEAUTIFUL. The performance from Dunst runs the spectrum chart of emotions. Ambivalence, dread, depression, giddiness, desire, eerie calm . . . it could have been all over the map, but Dunstinhabits this young woman as if she has known her all her life.” – Stephen Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer

“Von Trier's most amazingly haunting film, a truly beautiful work of art.” – E. Nina Rothe, Huffington Post

“MASTERFUL.” – Howard Feinstein,Filmmaker
“There are sure to be many who choose not to view yet another controversial film from a director who likes to antagonize his audience. THEY DON’T KNOW WHAT THEY’RE MISSING.” – Mark Rifkin, This Week in New York

 
Date for DVD release subject to change.