Melancholia

[MikeK]

Melancholia

Has anyone here seen this movie?

 

[get_involved]

I thought it was a very boring movie and long.

 

[Sarah G]

Melancholia

Has anyone here seen this movie?

Yes. I see it's on the premium channels now, I was thinking of watching it again to see if there was anything more interesting than when I dozed off the first time but.. Nahhh.

 

[Mr. H.]

The first half of the movie was sheer torture. I was ready to turn it off.

Second half made up for it and I'd like to watch it again some day.

 

[MikeK]

Were it not for the impressive cast, including Kiefer Sutherland, John Hurt, Kirsten Dunst and Helen Mirrin, I would not have lasted through to the end of this endless parade of baffling allegories.

The movie was described in the cable listing as a story of two sisters dealing with the imminent collision of a rogue planet. A doomsday movie. So I was preconsciously prepared for a sci-fi treatment of a potential disaster I happen to believe is menacingly possible. What I was not prepared for was a widening waltz through a long series of intricately constructed and graduating impressions of schizophrenic delusion.

While I am usually pretty good at translating allegories in literature and in movies this effort has me totally confounded. I cannot explain why the bride teased her groom, then cut him off, then fucked a total stranger, or why a horse named Abraham refused to cross a foot-bridge, or the bizarre transaction between the bride and her corporatist boss, or why the bride's father played a childish game with tableware, and on and on. In fact the only interpretation I am capable of is the ultimate message of this extremely well-made but utterly confusing movie is opulence is no defense against finality. When the end comes, whether to an individual or to the world, the trappings of wealth are meaningless.

Bottom line: I wish I hadn't read the cable listing's description of this movie and had just let it unfold and grow. Because for reasons I can't explain it is well worth watching.

 

[Montrovant]

I watched maybe 10 minutes before I turned it off. It was just going nowhere and I didn't have high enough expectations to be willing to wade through it any longer.

 

[MikeK]

I watched maybe 10 minutes before I turned it off. It was just going nowhere and I didn't have high enough expectations to be willing to wade through it any longer.

How was the movie presented to you? The description in my cable listing led me to expect some kind of science fiction doomsday plot. What were you expecting it to be about?

 

[Montrovant]

I watched maybe 10 minutes before I turned it off. It was just going nowhere and I didn't have high enough expectations to be willing to wade through it any longer.

How was the movie presented to you? The description in my cable listing led me to expect some kind of science fiction doomsday plot. What were you expecting it to be about?

I expected the whole 'end of the world, going to be hit by another planet' thing, but I didn't expect an average sci-fi movie. I'd seen previews for Melancholia and it looked like a very visual, probably too full-of-itself movie, the kind of movie that takes the idea of letting the audience figure out things for itself too far. Too much metaphor, not enough story. Still, it DID look like it might have some high-quality visual aspects, and you never know when that seemingly 'artsy' movie turns out to be a really good flick. It looked like my more pessimistic estimates were closer to right from the early part of the movie.

 

[MikeK]

The first half of the movie was sheer torture. I was ready to turn it off.

Second half made up for it and I'd like to watch it again some day.

What was it about the second half that held your attention?

 

[Mr. H.]

The first half of the movie was sheer torture. I was ready to turn it off.

Second half made up for it and I'd like to watch it again some day.

What was it about the second half that held your attention?

All the baffling crap from the first half seemed to fall into place. It became apparent to me that K. Dunced had accepted the world's ultimate fate long before the first scene. Perhaps some of the other characters did too. Anyhow- it turned into a very sobering creepy movie for me.
Almost reminded me of On The Beach.

On the Beach (1959) - IMDb