Death. Final, epic, Wagnerian death in a colossal collision between a rogue planet off-course and Earth. Somehow Melancholia makes it beautiful, poetic and completely and peacefully final.
The film by director Lars von Trier is a sumptuous exploration of the lure and trap of extreme depression in light of a popular view of our world. A world without God, without meaning or purpose beyond dinner parties and surviving family expectations. It is a depiction of the romanticized nature of the melancholic, unable to function in the “normal” world and yet somehow having astounding clarity and grounding when the much longed-for end of the world approaches.
Lisa Cole Smith
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In the movie Justine lives with depression. In an exquisite foreshadowing of what is to come the film opens with her wearing a wedding dress—a sign of hope, possibility and normalcy. Yet, she is mired down in thick, black vine-like goo that pulls her feet and arms towards the ground making it impossible to move. She is playing real-life dress up, trying to be what is expected of her and finding it to be chains. She is subject to forces beyond her control and in the end it is futile anyway because the planets literally collide and all is meaningless.
From the beginning of the film Justine hints that she knows something. She somehow knows the planet is coming, knows the end is near. More importantly, she knows there is no God, no afterlife, no real point to life at all. Thus, she is able to not only accept impending death, but welcome it calmly, almost joyfully, as the fulfillment of a reality she has always felt was just around the corner. For her, death is her true wedding—a relieved release into a natural state of being. She no longer has to pretend to care.
This film is about battling the feeling that the world is collapsing around you, about the choice to fight or succumb. And it is beautiful, powerful, moving. It can seem sometimes as if there is an electric force pulling us deeper and deeper into a state of mind that lies and says nothing really matters, everyone deceives and no one is listening. In my mind Melancholia is a picture of what life is like without God. The earth is still beautiful, some people may be “good,” but life just happens and it doesn’t really matter whether we are here or not.
Watching the movie affected me so profoundly because this cynicism and despair seems to be so insidiously present everywhere. In particular, depression, suicide and self-injury seem to be considered normal among teenagers and young adults I know. Just a week ago a student committed suicide at a local high school and such things inevitably come up more often than not in conversations with people of this age group.
And, yet, I know there is hope. Some of these very same kids are fighting back against that evil darkness, not even sure why or convinced there is a reason. But, I know I see God working in them, speaking through his gifts of creation. It can sometimes feel like an uphill battle to walk with people through darkness, praying that they will see the light. But, then someone like Nathan comes along, a musician in his early 20s who told one of our volunteers that he doesn’t believe in God and didn’t used to think much of Christians, but now that he is getting to know some people in our church he might be a little curious again.
In his recently released album called The Good War he shares his passion and a call to others like him:
Every day, we are fighting a war against ourselves. We are viciously attacked by not only the world, but our own thoughts.
Through the use of art, music and writing, I am fighting the Good War. I am fighting depression that has been ridiculing me since childhood. I am fighting back against a society that tells me that I do not belong. I am fighting back against lies, ignorance and hate. Just imagine what would happen if we all fought back.
Share your stories. Write your songs. Paint your paintings. Make your zines. Dance your dances.
For the sake of living create something beautiful.
Nathan’s words remind me that creating is an act of defiance. Every time we create we are fighting back against evil and darkness. God created us in his image and in so doing has given us a powerful tool. The giver of life who overcame death created us to create and in his name not only to fight the good war but win it.
Lisa Cole Smith ([email protected]) is pastor of Convergence: a Creative Community of Faith, a Baptist congregation in Alexandria, Va.