Melancholia (2011) is regarded as one of Lars von Trier’s masterpieces. Weaving together variations on Bruegel’s paintings, the image of Ophelia from Hamlet, and Wagner’s Tristan and Isolde, the film unfolds like an intimate yet epic opera. Lars von Trier portrays two contrasting sisters. Claire appears to enjoy a happy, affluent life with her husband and son, while Justine, gripped by deep depression, destroys everything that might make her happy. As the planet ‘Melancholia’ draws perilously close to Earth and the end of the world looms, the two women reveal unexpected sides of themselves. Blonde Kirsten Dunst and brunette Charlotte Gainsbourg, two brilliant actresses, perfectly embody sisters who seem like negatives of one another.
“Still, if the film isn’t depressing, it’s also thanks to its beauty.”
— Charlotte Gainsbourg, Salon.com, Nov 10, 2011
A globally recognized "cinematic auteur" who has consistently experimented with new forms of filmmaking, he played a central role in leading a new generation of cinema through the Dogme 95 manifesto. He won the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival for Breaking the Waves (1996) and the Palme d′Or for Dancer in the Dark (2000), and earned Best Actress awards for Charlotte Gainsbourg in Antichrist (2009) and Kirsten Dunst in Melancholia (2011). While continuing his radical formal experiments with films such as Dogville (2003), Nymphomaniac (2013), and The House That Jack Built (2018), he also made a significant impact on the European film industry through Zentropa, the production company he founded with producer Peter Aalbæk Jensen. He remains active and continues to create to this day.
From Busan International Film Festival 2026, No. 31
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