Despite the fact that the world is coming to an end, this is a fairly simple tale of clinical depression, the inability to get any joy from life. Kirsten Dunst embodies this condition and she is excellent, at times seeming almost frozen in her depression. I'll admit that while I was watching this film I was aware of the seams, aware of the manipulations that Lars Von Trier was hurling toward his audience. And there were some moments that felt forced to me, none more so than Stellan Skarsgard's dictatorial capitalist, but then I woke up at four am this morning and couldn't get back to sleep, and images from the film kept flashing through my mind. This is why Lars Von Trier matters, I think: He gets under your skin.
I've been wondering whether I should see this or not. But I think the Wagner-laden score is convincing me to give it a go. That and this blog post.
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