Melancholia

Why do movies like Melancholia get made? Not that it's a bad movie. But it is an art movie with little hope of ever being profitable. This is a movie about unhappy people at the end of the world. Not a sci-fi spectacular. But a well-acted drama.

Does art need to be profitable. Of course not. But let's digress into the money. This picture had a budget of over $7,000,000.00 of someone else's (Not the Director's) money. It was played in theaters world wide and is also available on for-profit streaming services. So we are well into the realm of commerce.

I didn't hate Melancholia. In fact I had a certain fascination with it. I've wanted to watch it for a long time. But every time I put it on, I could only take 15 or 20 minutes of it. I didn't care deeply for the well acted characters in their well directed situation. So I'd pause it and watch a little more the next night.

Hmmm. Don't know what to conclude here.

Two days later I realize that I keep thinking about Melancholia. I went back to YouTube to watch the opening scene again. I didn't realize how beautiful and haunting it was. The first time I watched the move, without knowing the plot or characters, the opening scene was confusing. Now that I know a little more about the movie I could pay attention to the images and music without trying to figure it out.

As art, It's successful.