Melancholia is an independent film starring Kristen Dunst as Justine andCharlotte Gainsbourg as Claire. It tells the story of two sisters whoserelationship is stained from Justine’s struggle with depression and inabilityto take care of herself. Claire and her husband pay for Justine’s extravagantwedding but then are disappointed at Justine’s continued unhappiness. At thewedding Claire and her husband struggle to keep things running smoothly.Justine cannot pretend to be happy. She looses her new husband and her new jobpromotion to her depression. The sister’s relationship is further stressed whennews that the planet Melancholia that is headed towards earth is announced.Claire is overcome with anxiety upon hearing the news; while Justine calmlyaccepts death.
The reason I choose thismovie was because I had heard very good reviews of this film. Some of myfriends even claimed that its one of their favorite movies. Watching this filmwith that in mind, I have to admit that I was very disappointed with Melancholia.Yes, it was beautifully put together and the cinematography was perfect. But mymain problem with the film is that the story was boring and overallintellectually dry. There were many interesting themes that the film could haveexplored but didn’t. It portrayed depression is a moving, interesting way butdidn’t really address the issue of depression or ask meaningful questions aboutdepression.
Another thing that seemedunresolved but not in a good way was the strained relationship between Justineand Claire. I think the relationship dynamic between them was very interestingbut the filmmakers didn’t fully explore their relationship or make the audienceask questions about what it means to be a good sister. Since my younger sisterhas some audio processing difficulties, I was very intrigued by thismother-like older sister character. I also identify with Claire’s struggle withanxiety. This film could have been very personal and spoke to my real liferelationships. But it didn’t. It didn’t fully explore or resolve the sister’srelationship so I was very disappointed by that aspect of the film as well.
As Christians how should we approach the issue of depression? How should we treat and deal with it?
How do our relationships with our siblings reflect how we view ourselves? What would kingdom-like sibling relationships look like?
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