MovieChat Forums > Melancholia (2011) Discussion > What's the message? This is it..

What's the message? This is it..

posted 7 years ago by bluekarma06
3 replies | jump to latest

The entire focus of the movie was on this one family. I suppose the rest of the world was in a mad panic. However, no one ever turns on a TV or goes online for "news" and we never get a glimpse. I suppose for the sake of keeping the budget, the movie couldn't diverge too much? I know Keifer's character wanted to keep the panic out of his family although the first part of the movie drove him mad, with his sister-in-law causing most of it, and even the impending DOOM of the planet didn't cause him to freak out, just calmly get up and take some pills and check out. I think the message is that even the end of the world can't be as bad as having to foot the bill for a doomed marriage! j/k!

However maybe THAT is the point? Justine was the "melancholia" in the first part. A disaster "waiting" to happen. Everyone knows it is coming, and it eventually does. Marriage over before it is even consummated. The "implosion" of her Melancholia is her screwing the young man on the golf course after blowing up at her boss. Second half, the actual planet is the disaster that is bound to happen. But Justine, becomes opposite of her first self, after going thru her own "melancholia" and found absolute peace while the others panic in their own way and can't get thru this "melancholia" and resort to falling apart. Two sides of the same coin. IMO, and I am no expert, but the message in this movie is, Expectations are what drive people to create melancholia. Doing what EVERYONE else wants you to do when none of it is what YOU want. It drives you MAD! The only one besides Justine that got it was her mother, when she simply said "run".

Brilliant movie.

[–] KutWrite 7 years ago

Well, that's pretty good.

I diverge from your opinion in these ways:

1. I think Justine was melancholy her whole life. It may have some connection with her dad, who sensed some kind of confrontation or moment of truth was coming and split. She was melancholy during the 2nd half, too, except it more fit the occasion, so she seemed closer to normal. Remember when she finished Claire's sentence to say, effectively, "Keep expecting the worst. You'll either be happily surprised, or you'll be right."

2. For me a big point in the movie was people squandering their gifts. That went from the minute, Leo missing the big moment of the planets' "dance," to Justine squandering a chance at love (maybe two), to the Ad man squandering the talents of Justine and Tim & maybe HIS whole life, to the girls' parents, of course, missing their chance at love and a wholesome family, to rich hubby John, dwelling on how many holes in his golf course and his tech stuff, instead of his wife and son.

On the grander scale, I think it even implied the whole population of Earth, who, in the movie's world, are the only living beings in the Universe, yet have squandered our existence here to the point we won't be missed.

I can't say I share this view, any more than I share any appreciation for MTV style shaky camera work. The oft-repeated music loops didn't help either.

But still, it was worth watching. I'm not even melancholy!

[–] CinemaDemon989 (1286) 6 years ago

I think this movie is a representation of the nihilistic and impulsive behavior that would probably unfold if the world was really about to come to an end. People would begin questioning everything in their life. There are two reasons for the title. Reason number one, obviously being the name of the planet that's soon to come crashing into earth. Reason number two, it's because of the mindset that Justine falls into after her wedding. The mindset of melancholy. The reason she basically disregards Michael after the wedding, is because she fails to see any value in getting married or being in a relationship...seeing that the world is going to end anyway. Her parents seem to view Justine in the same way. They don't care to delve into any problems that Justine is having, seeing that their time spent on earth is only going to be temporary. That's the whole theme that I got from Justine and her parents...not caring anymore.

Claire and her husband are basically the optimists of the situation. John, with his scientific knowledge, appears convinced that planet Melancholia will pass planet earth, and that everything will be fine. Claire's only hope is fueled by John's claims. But Justine on the other hand already knows the truth. She's already come to terms with the world ending, and she looks down on Claire for being so hopeful about everything.

[–] CinemaDemon989 (1286) 6 years ago

(continued)

The message of the film was the concept of total and complete annihilation. In this story, there are no winners or losers. In the end, everyone will receive the same outcome...ceasing to exist. Seeing that Claire was so hopeful that everything would be okay, in the end, none of that optimism did her any good. In fact, it made the moment of reckoning all-the-more terrifying for her. She refused to accept that the end was coming until it was too late. And John, out of all people, was the one who committed suicide. So that goes to show you that even for a guy like John, the thought of dying in an apocalyptic scenario was so completely horrifying, that he decided to off himself.

And as in for Justine, in her final moments, she seemed like she had some regrets. Like maybe she wished she would've spent her last days in a different manner, instead of lying around the house being all depressed and hopeless. But like I said, everyone received the same outcome. It didn't matter what your outlook on life was. There was no wrong or right in this situation. Which yet again, brings me back to why this film represents nihilism. The tone of everything having 'no meaning'. I thought this film was an interesting character study...or human study, for that matter.