Press notes, while I do enjoy reading them, aren't usually very exciting in terms of content. For the most part they include cast and crew bios, a long synopsis, production notes, and credits. In Melancholia's press notes, Magnolia Pictures decided to include a statement from director Lars Von Trier and an interview with him conducted by author and journalist Nils Thorsen. It was really too good not to share with all of you. Lars Von Trier (Antichrist, Dogville, Dancer in the Dark) debuted Melancholia at the Cannes Film Festival this past May. While the film received fantastic reviews and even earned Kirsten Dunst a best actress award, Trier was banned from the festival and declared "persona non grata" after saying he sympathizes with Adolf Hitler at the film's press conference. This hasn't hampered the film's buzz and it will be part of the special presentations programme at the Toronto International Film Festival next week.

DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT – LARS VON TRIER
It was like waking from a dream: my producer showed me a suggestion for a poster. “What is that?” I ask. ”It’s a film you’ve made!” she replies. “I hope not,” I stammer. Trailers are shown ... stills ... it looks like shit. I’m shaken. Don’t get me wrong ... I’ve worked on the film for two years. With great pleasure. But perhaps I’ve deceived myself. Let myself be tempted. Not that anyone has done anything wrong ... on the contrary; everybody has worked loyally and with talent toward the goal defined by me alone. But when my producer presents me with the cold facts, a shiver runs down my spine.

This is cream on cream. A woman’s film! I feel ready to reject the film like a wrongly transplanted organ. But what was it I wanted? With a state of mind as my starting point, I desired to dive headlong into the abyss of German romanticism. Wagner in spades. That much I know. But is that not just another way of expressing defeat? Defeat to the lowest of cinematic common denominators? Romance is abused in all sorts of endlessly dull ways in mainstream products. And then, I must admit, I have had happy love relationships with romantic cinema ... to name the obvious: Visconti!

German romance that leaves you breathless. But in Visconti, there was always something to elevate matters beyond the trivial ... elevate it to masterpieces! I am confused now and feel guilty. What have I done? Is it ‘exit Trier?’ I cling to the hope that there may be a bone splinter amid all the cream that may, after all, crack a fragile tooth ... I close my eyes and hope!

On Kirsten Dunst:

“I think she's one hell of an actress. She is much more nuanced than I thought and she has the advantage of having had a depression of her own. All sensible people have,” he says.
“She helped me a lot. First and foremost she had taken photos of herself in that situation so I could see how she looked. How she was present and smiling, but with a completely blank stare. She really pulls that off rather well.”

How do you personally feel about the thought that the world might come to an end?

“If it could happen in an instant, the idea appeals to me. As Justine says: Life is evil, right? And life is a wicked idea. God may have had fun at creation, but he didn't really think things through,” the director laughs. “So if the world ended and all the suffering and longing disappeared in a flash, I'm likely to press the button myself. If nobody would be in pain. Then people might say: how nasty, what about all the lives that wouldn't be lived? But I can't help seeing it all as a mean streak.”

What is there most of in life – misery or joy?

“Misery, dammit! Clearly. You may argue: Orgasm. Yes, that's fine enough. But, orgasms, Ferraris and other pleasures. Yes, but with death and suffering at the other end of the scale, these weigh more, I think. And there's much more suffering and pain than pleasure. And when you enjoy a spring day, that too is a kind of melancholy. The wedding is Justine's last attempt to fight her way back into life instead of longing herself out of it. That's why she wants to get married,” says von Trier. “She thinks: now I'm forcing my way through the rituals and some truth may issue from it. When you're being cured of a depression, you're forced to instigate some rituals as well. Take a five minute walk, for instance. And by going through the motions, the rituals will accumulate some meaning as well.”

So it's not a proper shipwreck and sudden death if EVERYTHING doesn't go?

“No, it has to be everything,” he smiles. “And I think it's a scary and cold thought. When you see pictures from outer space, you shiver and feel that we're awfully alone. And when you imagine yourself floating around in space, in a way you are alone.”


ARE we alone in the universe?


“We are,” he says. “But no one wants to realize it. They keep wanting to push limits and fly wherever,” he laughs. “Forget it! Look inward.”

So you are exposed when you appreciate what you have?

“Yes! And we melancholiacs skip lightly over all that. Perhaps it's a way of surviving. Then you don't have to mourn the things you lose,” he says and adds with a little laugh: 
“But on the whole, they are pretty unpleasant to one another. My characters are, you know. They all let each other down.”

What sort of aesthetics did you want in the film?

“I'd like a clash between what is romantic and grand and stylized and then some form of reality. The camera is handheld, for the most part. But the problem was that we had a magnificent castle in Sweden, and when you add a wedding with all the guests in gala and tux, it can hardly avoid becoming ... beautiful, “ he smiles.

And that was not your intention?

“Well, it's hard to smuggle in a bit of ugliness. So I think the film is slightly on the edge of plastic. Here and there. Would you please write that?”

What's your doubt in this case?

“Well, I am afraid that it has turned out too 'nice'. I like the romance in it. Pathos. But that's alarmingly close to nice. I mean, exactly when are you indulging in romance with Wagner, and when is it just … turning trivial?”

It's allowed to be indecently nice, I suppose?

“Yes! If there's an idea about it. I had a wonderfully unpolished feeling with Antichrist. I don't with 'Melancholia'. All the time, I meant it to be polished in some way. And I hope people will find something beyond the polish, if they really look for it. It's just harder to get down to than with 'Antichrist', because the surface is so polished.”

In Antichrist you couldn't help falling through the cracks?

“That's what I mean. You can skate across the polished surface in this film. The style is polished, but underneath the smooth surface, there's content. And to get to that, you need to look beyond the polish. But the worst thing to happen was when they said at Nordisk Film: There are some beautiful images,” he laughs. “That destroyed me. For if I make a film that they like at Nordisk Film, I'll stop tomorrow!”

On his upcoming film about nymphomania:

“I've given Peter Aalbæk a choice between two titles: 'Shit in the Bedsore' and 'The Nymphomaniac'. And he seems to think that a film with the title 'The Nymphomaniac' might be easier to market, he laughs.”

Is it something you intend to make a film about?

“I'm researching on nymphomania. And Marquis de Sade. I've found that 40 per cent of all nymphomaniacs are also cutters, in the sense that they cut themselves. But then again, it's politically incorrect to speak of nymphomania, because the concept in itself is seen to indicate that we cannot relate to female sexuality. As I understand, many of them cannot obtain satisfaction, so they use sex like cutting because it is something within their control. I suppose they carry around a fear or pain that they conceal beneath that.” He looks ahead for a while without speaking. “But it's no fun if they're just humping away all the time.” He ponders. “Then it'll just be a porn flick.”