'Melancholia': Kirsten Dunst discovers new levels of depression

Magnolia PicturesKirsten Dunst is the bummed out bride in "Melancholia."

Let's give Lars von Trier credit. The Danish writer-director would never be satisfied with trite formulas and predictable scripts. He is fascinated with human dread, depression and the twisty caves of our interiors. He strives not only to get up close with his characters, but inside of them. This is commendable. And his strangely concocted films are memorable (parts of "Dogville" are still playing somewhere in the back of my brain), if not wholly satisfying.

His latest mind-messer is "Melancholia." Kirsten Dunst plays Justine. We meet her on her wedding day. Although she has the requisite flowing white dress, stretch limo, handsome husband, elaborate reception and retinue of family and friends, she is miserable.

Justine's clinical sadness is a main character in this film, as are her sister Claire (von Trier regular Charlotte Gainsbourg), who has taken great pains to throw Justine a fabulously expensive reception; Claire's husband, John (a terrific Kiefer Sutherland); and a mysterious planet.

The latter has been dubbed Melancholia. It appeared out of nowhere in the heavens and is hurtling toward Earth. Are we headed for a collision? What is its enlarging sky presence and mesmerizing light doing to people? And why is it named after the term for extreme depression?

Von Trier opens his film with an overture of Justine's disturbing visions to the ominous strains of Wagner and embraces the visual splendor of the sky and Claire and John's huge, waterside estate with languid takes (shades of Terrence Malick and Gaspar Noe). The lighting and atmosphere evoke stylized album covers from the 1970s (kudos to cinematographer Manue! l Albert o Claro).

REVIEW Melancholia

Who: With Kirsten Dunst, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Kiefer Sutherland. Written and directed by Lars von Trier.

Rated: R for some nudity, sexual con tent and language.

Running time: 135 minutes.

When: Opens Friday.

Where: Capitol Theatre, 1390 West 65th St., Cleveland.

Grade: C+

But while the psycho-wranglings are intriguing, the audience's interest level and patience are tested by the world's longest wedding reception, a herky-jerky, zoom-in-zoom-out camera and meandering scenes.

The cast, which includes John Hurt, Stellan Skarsgard and Charlotte Rampling, is exemplary. Dunst downplays to the point of somnambulance, but deserves praise for taking on such a raw, exposed character. The more compelling family member turns out to be Claire, the sister doing all of the work and getting none of the thanks. Gainsbourg's compelling performance gives "Melancholia" a much needed center as the outward anxiety builds and the sky fills with that other planet.