Melancholia 2011 - Tumblr Posts

The helplessness, fear, anguish, and a constant feeling of the impending “end of their world” are the nature of emotions that people with depression go through. The only difference being it’s inexplicable as to why they are feeling this. The planet Melancholia represents the inevitability of death. Justine accepts the end of the world without complaint. She even seems to welcome it, presenting herself naked to the blue planet in the sky. She can accept death because she is already dead inside. Like many suicidal people, she believes nobody cares for her, saying, “The earth is evil, the universe will not mourn us”. We see how Claire is slowly consumed by her fears, searching for answers about the planet, similar to people suffering from some mental illness, trying to understand their condition in somehow to take control of it. And becomes hysterical at the end. If a planet were to collide with Earth, a lot more would happen before the impact — tsunamis, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, cosmic waves, and finally, a melting earth. They do not show us these because this film’s focus is not the accurate portrayal of a sci-fi event. Instead, the director has used an apocalyptic event to help perceive the emotional turmoil that someone with depression goes through.

MELANCHOLIA (2011) dir. Lars von Trier