Melancholia: Kirsten Dunst Sure Is Sad and Naked
Here's a trailer for brutalist director Lars Von Trier's lastest film, a sci-fi flecked drama about a miserable bride and the end of the world. The film actually bills itself on its website as "A beautiful movie about the end of the world." So there. Plus naked Dunst!
That's her writhing on the hill there, isn't it? And crumpled by the bathtub. Aside from the nudity, Dunst is reemerging as a serious, grownup actress, this film coming after her little-seen but impressive work in All Good Things. And how brave of her, and all the other actresses in this film (notably the Charlottes Rampling and Gainsbourg), to subject herself to the whims of a famously nasty guy like Von Trier.
In a weird way, I can already see why they would for this film. It looks awfully intriguing, doesn't it? With all its celestial menace, dreamy music, and stark, crisp photography. And that line "Life is only on Earth, and not for long"! Sounds a bit like Chekhov, doesn't it? I mean, can't you almost hear a crazed Nina saying that at the end of The Seagull? I like it! I mean, it will probably end up being incoherent muck, but for now I'm into it. Terrence Malick meets Donnie Darko meets Sofia Coppola, all bundled together by the guy who made Dogville, one of the most unsettling but striking movies I've probably ever seen.
Let's get melancholy, guys.