Melancholia. 2011. Written and directed by Lars von Trier

Film

No upcoming events

Melancholia. 2011. Denmark/Sweden/France/Germany. Written and directed by Lars von Trier. Courtesy Magnolia Pictures

Melancholia. 2011. Denmark/Sweden/France/Germany. Written and directed by Lars von Trier. With Kristen Dunst, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Alexander Skarsgård. 35mm. 135 min.

Lars von Trier juxtaposes the magnificent and the mundane in this acclaimed apocalyptic drama. Beginning with an overture of stunning, tableau-like images, the story abruptly switches to the wedding day of Justine (Kirsten Dunst) and Michael (Alexander Skarsgård). Justine, withdrawn and distracted, does not make a blushing bride, and the evening is fraught with familial and existential anxiety. Looming (literally) over all of the action is Melancholia, a planet long hidden by the sun that is due to make a close call with the earth over the next few days. Dunst and Charlotte Gainsbourg (as Claire, Justine’s sister/caretaker) give strong performances that complement von Trier’s realist style.

This film accompanies Magnolia Pictures at 20.

Past events

Fri, Sep 24, 2021, 4:00 p.m.

MoMA, Floor T1, Theater 1

The Roy and Niuta Titus Theater 1
Tue, Sep 21, 2021, 7:00 p.m.

MoMA, Floor T1, Theater 1

The Roy and Niuta Titus Theater 1

Licensing

If you would like to reproduce an image of a work of art in MoMA’s collection, or an image of a MoMA publication or archival material (including installation views, checklists, and press releases), please contact Art Resource (publication in North America) or Scala Archives (publication in all other geographic locations).

MoMA licenses archival audio and select out of copyright film clips from our film collection. At this time, MoMA produced video cannot be licensed by MoMA/Scala. All requests to license archival audio or out of copyright film clips should be addressed to Scala Archives at [email protected]. Motion picture film stills cannot be licensed by MoMA/Scala. For access to motion picture film stills for research purposes, please contact the Film Study Center at [email protected]. For more information about film loans and our Circulating Film and Video Library, please visit https://www.moma.org/research/circulating-film.

If you would like to reproduce text from a MoMA publication, please email [email protected]. If you would like to publish text from MoMA’s archival materials, please fill out this permission form and send to [email protected].