z.ky: Melancholia hits Dublin

As usual, a review without spoilers.

Melancholia is uncomfortably moving, almost profound. My inexplicable dislike of Kirsten Dunst was cushioned by the always wonderful Charlotte Gainsbourg, and melted away completely during the second part of the movie. The small main cast (Dunst, Gainsbourg, Kiefer Sutherland, and Cameron Spurr as their little boy) and ending were genius. The sparse nudity is touching and natural rather than sleazy. The music blew me away - it's such a breath of fresh air when movie soundtracks feature mostly or only classical music (and NO cheesy credits song).

Despite the limited showings and lush imagery, this movie is not overly "artsy" or pretentious. Action movie buffs will squirm in their seats while romantic comedy fans will have their ideals rattled. Don't take it too seriously or search too deep for meaning, and you will have a wonderful, even if shaken, experience.

Favourite scene:
The conversation between Claire and Justine, during which she mentions "All life on Earth is evil." Could have been taken straight out of Donnie Darko...it's that level of tangibility while touching on the topic of mortaliy: life is short, and how it's in human nature not to recognise it until it's too late.

Most shocking scene:
After the horses calm.

Favourite aspects:
The hair and make-up was divine. Reminded me of the finish in Black Swan. The location was beautiful, too - it was shot in Sweden, including Tjolöholm Castle.

Least favourite aspects:
The slow-motion intro stretched slightly too long for my taste.

--

Irish filmgoers: this movie is not being shown outside of Dublin. Within the city centre, you can see it in the either the IFI or The Screen Cinema - I recommend the IFI for its interior. Catch it before it's gone!

-Black Swan

First of all, there was some douchebag sitting behind me who exhaled really loudly and was shuffling around or scratching his ass or something, hitting the back of my chair in the process. Cinema-goers, BE CONSIDERATE! Or else people will insult you on their blogs! That's the only audience-related thing worth mentioning. Oh wait, there were more than a few senior citizens there. I wonder what they thought of the...raunchier scenes. Take note, there are NO SPOILERS in this entry as usual.

Natalie Portman was so intense, she truly deserves all of the awards she gets. I really admire the training and work she went through for this role. She is painfully skinny and very frightful and tortured-looking. Secondly, I was genuinely scared at some points. Her house is creepy, the lighting is creepy, her mum is creepy, mirrors are creepy...Aronofsky does the thing a lot where the character stupidly doesn't look into a room before entering and closing the door, only to get a shock when he or she turns around. Except it works. I jumped at least twice. I didn't know that Winona Ryder is in this film, by the way. She's so underrated. Something about her makes me not want to take her seriously in almost every movie she's in (lol, Edward Scissorhands, Heathers...) but I completely do. She was in one of my favourite movies ever though, Girl, Interrupted.

Anyway, I was most impressed with the camerawork (duh). It's kind of weird that I'm so obsessed with camerawork. I am by no means a connoisseur, I don't know the proper names or techniques or anything. But I cannot help but notice how the camera is used, unless the movie is full of amusing teenage characters who use pseudo-quirky vocabulary, like Juno, Adventureland or Scott Pilgrim.

This movie is very good and worth watching, even if (like me) you decide not to watch it again afterwards (it's not really my type of movie). Mila Kunis fits into her role effortlessly, the music is great and loud, the ballet looks painful, the light gore is way more effective than the Saw-esque "hey look this dude's stomach is being hacked open and you can see his guts! this is completely not a realistic situation and does not scare me!", instead choosing to amplify Portman's haggard breathing while she rips a hangnail off (OUCH!!!!). It is often highly uncomfortable to watch, not unlike Hard Candy starring Ellen Page. The CGI work (warning: spoilers) almost finds its way to realism, Rodarte (love!) designed the costumes and I will probably have nightmares tonight.

Go and watch it. It must be experienced.


Am I back fr rl? I don't know. This entry may disappear sometime in the near future. I'm really bad with persistency on the web. Sorry.