The first half of Melancholia, the new film by controversial Danish director Lars von Trier depicts the saddest wedding in the world, a weekend in the country where all attempts at joyfulness are suffocated by a heavy cloud of gloom, largely emanating from the bride, played by Kirsten Dunst. In the second half, Dunst’s character rejoices as a planet approaches to destroy Earth and everyone on it.If the film itself is a bit dark, its publicity campaign has been even edgier—accidentally. The worldwide tour started out with director Von Trier being ejected from the Cannes Film Festival after jesting about having positive feelings for Nazis.
Despite this backdrop, Kirsten Dunst radiates excitement when she comes to talk about Melancholia. And why shouldn’t she? Difficult though Melancholia may be, it is in the minds of many the most interesting film to come along in years, one certain to top many end-of-the-year Best Of lists. Nearly every frame of the film is built around Dunst’s character, Justine, the saddest bride in history. It is the sort of part an actress dreams of, and Dunst gives what is clearly the performance of her career, creating a human puzzle that viewers will be trying to solve for years.
So despite the bumps in the road, and despite the deeply depressing film, Dunst’s exuberance overflows as she talks about the film while sipping lemonade on the sunny patio of West Hollywood’s Tower Bar. “This sort of part is just a rarity,” she said. “These auteurs who write and direct don’t make that many films, and when they do it usually is built around a male part. It’s so rarely around a female part.”
Dunst, 29, has already had a very long career since she first caught the public eye at age 12 in Interview With the Vampire. But despite working with many of Hollywood’s great directors, she has hovered just off the margins. Other than in the Spider-Man movies, her roles have always been too indie (the great Dick), or the films have just missed (Elizabethtown, Wimbledon). She has never turned in anything less than a very solid performance, she was never less than memorable, but hadn’t yet found that one role that closes the door for all time on questions of how good an actress is.
No one who sees Melancholia can deny that that role has arrived for Dunst. Were there any justice in the Oscar race, the part would give be a lock for a Best Actress nomination and a strong contender to win the trophy. As it is, Dunst enters the most crowded category in this year’s race: The Help’s Viola Davis, Meryl Streep as Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady, and Michelle Williams as Marilyn Monroe in My Week With Marilyn are all considered locks, with everyone else (Rooney Mara, Elizabeth Olsen, Charlize Theron, Glenn Close, and more) fighting for the fourth and fifth spots.
Yet none of those performances is likely to come near the wholly original work that Dunst did in Melancholia, and the fact that she must fight it out for the two remaining slots with a half dozen other possible contenders only demonstrates the extent to which gimmickry has often risen above art in the acting races of late.
Chatting with Dunst, however, illuminates what a unique journey she went on to create a character like Justine in a film as astounding as Melancholia.
Before arriving on the set—an estate in a remote Danish village where she and the crew would camp out for a month and a half—Dunst took several weeks preparing to confront the morose character she was to play. She trained for Justine like a prizefighter trains for an opponent, studying her every decision from inside out. “I work with somebody, and we do extensive preparations. I went on vacation and she came with me. We spent day after day on it. It feels like I’m going to therapy. Sometimes we deal with imagery. Sometimes I work with my dreams as well. What it does for me is it really creates an inner life for the character that I really understand and that I know better than anyone else. My script pages are covered with notes. I created an emotional bible for myself. It gives me confidence when I go to the set. I refer to it before I do every scene. And then when you film out of order, it makes my performance make sense.”
Only in the film’s second half, when Justine becomes certain that the planet and all its inhabitants are doomed, does she find her peace and contentment. Needless to say, it’s not Mary Poppins. But it’s a part perfect for Dunst, who, more than any actress today has the ability in her work to move effortlessly between the poles of effervescence and sadness. If there is a performer who seems to have the emotional capacity to star in a film entitled Melancholia, it is Dunst.