Melancholia

After The Royal on College St re-opened as a film editing studio and a movie theatre, sitting behind the edit board is a particular pleasure. Not only is there ample leg room, there is also no one sitting in front of you. But best of all, the elevated barrier separating the board from the seats means that you do not see any other movie goers or their glowing smartphones. On a sparsely attended night, you almost feel as if you have the entire theatre to yourself.

That deep sense of isolation also permeates Lars Von Trier's Melancholia, a movie ostensibly about people reacting to the news that a newly discovered planet will pass close to Earth's orbit. I can't speak to any deeper themes, since it feels to me like an artier Rachel Getting Married, complete with embarrassing wedding meltdowns. I did enjoy the tension created with the judicious use of simple CG and fine acting, wholly superior to the ineffective and bombastic spectacle of Hollywood disaster movies. On the other hand, how Kirsten Dunst won best actress at Cannes escapes me. Her acting in this movie is the same as her Spider-man roles, a two-note part comprising of winsome smiles to represent positive feelings and a heavy-lidded blank affect to portray negative emotions.