“The Earth is Evil”: On Lars von Trier's Melancholia

Annihilating flatters something obscure, something original in us. It is not by erecting but by pulverizing that we may divine the secret satisfactions of a god. Whence the lure of destruction and the illusions it provokes among the frenzied of any era.

E. M. Cioran,

De l'inconvénient d'être né

There can be no serious discussion on Melancholia without recalling that, on occasion of the film's premiere at the Cannes Film Festival , Lars von Trier gave an interview that appalled a good part of the world. Taking advantage of the presence of international journalists, Lars, who is part Jewish, made anti-Semitic and pro-Nazi statements, which resulted in his being banned from the festival and his film being rejected by some distributors. In short, there is not much more he could have done to ruin his career and reputation. Had it not been for his outburst, Melancholia could have won the Palme d'Or. The jury's awarding of the Best Actress Award to Kristen Dunst was meant, arguably, to make up for this. Someone as intelligent as von Trier could not but have expected such reactions.

Yet, the film he sought to sabotage with his statements reflects his own conduct: in a matter of a few hours, one of the protagonists destroys all she had socially achieved. And, like his heroine, Lars sought to have himself banished. His scandalous interview was itself an integral part of the film, and provides us with a key to further understanding it.

Lars's outburst also recalls an episode from Idioterne (The Idiots, ), the only film in which he scrupulously complied with the rules laid out in DOGMA 95, the 1995 excessive cinematographic manifesto he cosigned with Thomas Vinterberg. The film follows a group of young men and women as they wander about Denmark, behaving on occasion as though they were mentally retarded. The group's leader, Stoffer, states the ethical aim of a game that, at first, appears to be no more than a students' prank: each of them must bring out the “in