Melancholia Mise En Scene

1318 Words3 Pages

Sadness, downswings in mood, setbacks, and disappointments are prominent themes in Melancholia (Lars Von Trier, 2011). The film uses many formal elements such as editing techniques, point of view shots, and the positioning of characters within the editing and mise-en scene to involve, alert, and implicate the viewers. For example, the opening scene is a close up shot of Justine’s wet blonde hair, head and neck. Her eyes are seen shut with her head slightly tilted to the center left of the frame. A white/grey sky with a touch of pink fills in the background. As she looks at the camera, her facial expression is unexpressive. Birds are then seen slowly falling in the background from the sky, an indication that disaster is underway. The opera music …show more content…

A wide camera angle captures Justin and her surroundings. Dark blue and green colors are emphasized and Justin’s white body stands out in the center of the frame. A close up shot then captures Justin laying down looking relaxed, calm and at peace as she stairs up at melancholia. Claire becomes very agitated and scared that the world will be coming to an end soon. The characters reactions to the reality of earth’s collision with melancholia all seem to be different. Justine appears to be more accepting, calm and her mental state looks to be improving as melancholia gets closer. Clare appears to be scared, desperate, and hysteric the closer melancholia gets to earth. When Melancholia is seen in the sky, a dark blue color is most dominant in the scenes. The film places a lot of emphasis on the surroundings. Ultimately, there are only Justine, Clare and Leo left. The visual excess gained through Melancholia’s blue coloring and the repeating opera music distracts the viewer from the characters’ mental conditions. This switches the attention from the catastrophe that is to happen to something that’s not so frightening but more beautiful

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