Melancholia
Melancholia is the first film I've seen from controversial Danish director Lars Von Trier, which is a little embarrassing to admit, but nonetheless I had no idea what to expect. It starts with a series of images depicting the end of the earth as it collides with another planet (not a spoiler, happens right at the start of the movie!) which are rather beautifully presented and hauntingly paired with the prelude with Richard Wagner's Triston and Isolde opera. The film then shifts to events that occurred before the earth's doom, and is split into two parts named after two characters, sisters Justine and Claire.
In the first part, titled "Justine", the titular character, played brilliantly by Kirsten Dunst, has just gotten married and the scene is set at the wedding reception. It's a rather upper class affair and has been paid for by Justine's wealthy brother in law, played by Kiefer Sutherland. It soon becomes clear that Justine is suffering pretty badly from mental illness, and the wedding reception is played out like one of those disaster comedies where everything that could go wrong during an high brow event does go wrong, except here it's played out for dramatic effect rather than laughs. It's all quite awkward and painful to watch, all the while the planet known as Melancholia is getting closer to earth.
The second part is named after Claire, who is played by Charlotte Gainsbourg. In contrast to her sister Justine Claire appears to be quite mentally stable and is living on easy street with her wealthy husband. As the possibility that Melancholia will collide with earth becomes more real, however, we see Claire slowly start to lose the plot.
I think it's fair to say that Melancholia is a flawed masterpiece. I don't think I've ever seen a less accessible science fiction dealing with the end of the world, yet it handles the subject in with more poignancy and in a more relatable manner than the big Hollywood blockbuster. By focusing on just two people rather than the mass hysteria would come with such a situation it allows us to engage with the characters in a more organic way, and gives a realistic insight into the way people deal with the inevitability of death given their current circumstances.
On the other hand, Melancholia has some pacing issues and feels uneven, especially during the Wedding section of the film, which goes on a bit too long and could have done with some tighter editing. However, this is only a small issue, and the final sequence is one of the most brilliant I have ever seen on film, and really rammed home the importance to me of seeing some films at the cinema. I cannot imagine the intensity of this scene being replicated at home without Wagner's score crashing through the cinema speakings, followed by the eerie darkness and silence that prelude the end credits.
****1/2 out of *****
Arthur Christmas
Saw this one a couple of days before Christmas, partly because I had had read good reviews and partly just because I was in the festive spirit. Arthur Christmas is about a guy named Arthur, who is the son of Santa Claus. Santa is about to retire, and when he hangs up the boots the role is Santa Claus is meant to be going to Arthur's older brother. While Steve appears to be much more organised and suited to the job than Arthur, he doesn't have the same kind heart and love for Christmas as Arthur. When one child's toy is accidentally not delivered Arthur must come to the rescue before Christmas morning, as the rest of his family see as less than important.
While Arthur Christmas, in a way, is a fairly standard family Christmas fare with tired themes of the true meaning of Christmas and sacrifice and love trumping selfish ambition being in play, it actually manages to rise above the average Christmas movie with it's nice looking animation, interesting and likable characters and comedic elements. It also adds a little something extra by introducing the idea of the Santa Claus family being sort of like a monarchy and Santa using all sorts of modern gadgets. You may never see it pop up on any "Best Christmas Movie" lists that always come out around the holiday period, but you could do alot worse than adding this one to the play list come December 2012.
***1/2 out of *****
The Adventures of Tin Tin
I was a massive Tin Tin fan when I was growing up, and I read almost every comic and saw most of the cartoon series, however I hadn't given the franchise much thought in years when along comes Steven Spielberg with this animated (motion capture if you want to be technical) big screen adaption. The storyline for this outing is a combination of three or four of the comic books, but is a fairly standard Tin Tin adventure with our favourite reporter investigating a possible big story, stumbling onto something more sinister than he first thought, and then travelling all over the place and interacting with different people in an attempt to save the day.
It feels as though Spielberg was really inspired by his own Indiana Jones films here, as Tin Tin has the same sense of unapologetic adventure, and the action scenes all look really good in the 3D motion capture format. The script is quite funny in parts, and the characters all maintain the same charm as they did in the comics. The film suffers some from some pacing issues early on, as we barely given a second to absorb the setting the action has already started, and more could have been done to establish the character. Also, there's never really much of a feeling that there's anything at stake, meaning there's no real tension created at any point and no real reason to root for the good guys. However, this was an extremely fun ride and a good popcorn movie that I can imagine would have a wide ranging appeal, so any criticism of this film is pretty much redundant anyway.
***1/2 out of *****
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