Details regarding Lars von Trier’s new sci-fi thriller MELANCHOLIA have been kept under a pretty tight body-wrap for months now. Last we heard, the flick had officially started production in Sweden…but that was back in July. Now that Autumn is here, what new details can we expect to see hold true when the flick finally releases? Writer/director Lars von Trier (right) has a few answers…
About the film, which follows the events that happen when a giant planet called Melancholia begins looming harmfully too close to Earth, von Trier told Politiken (Via Slash):
“In ‘Melancholia’ I start with the end. Because what is interesting is not what happens but how it happens! So we begin by seeing the world being crushed, then we can tell the story afterwards… In this way you don’t have to sit and form theories about what will happen, but can delve down into some other levels and become interested in the pictures and the universe – that’s what I imagine.”
Wow, that sounds pretty harsh. And while we’ll have to wait to see if his declaration of “no more happy endings” will hold, looks like money’s done with happy beginnings as well. Gotta love this Lars f*cker!
Here’s some other details unearthed:
The film is about two sisters. One of them is melancholic, the other quite normal. The two sisters are played by Kirsten Dunst and Charlotte Gainsbourg. The two sisters react completely differently when the end of the earth approaches.
The melancholy sister is calm as a rock because, in her darkened mind, she has always felt that things go as expected – to hell!
“And there are beautiful pictures as she is just standing there looking at the planet that comes closer and closer and accepts it. The other woman, on the other hand, becomes increasingly panicky,” von Trier says.
Sounds pretty f*ckin’ rad, no? Now all we need’s a goddamn release date for this baby.