Lars von Trier, the same guy who gave us the nearly endless "Dogville", has now come up with something called "Melancholia".
The film has the virtue of not being overlong (unlike "Dogville"), and of being based on a simple premise: the Earth is about to be destroyed by colliding with another planet. Von Trier's answer is that some people will become depressed, while others will act as if nothing at all is happening. The score of the film is supplied by the Prelude to Wagner's "Tristan und Isolde". This works well enough, but most people think of this piece as being erotic rather than sad. A better choice would have been the Prelude to the opera's third act, which really is sad.
The cast is interesting: in the lead is Kirsten Dunst, along with Alexander Skarsgaard (Eric from "True Blood"), Stellan Skarsgaard (his father), Charlotte Gainsbourg, Charlotte Rampling, Kiefer Sutherland and John Hurt.
Did anyone else catch this?