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Melancholia

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Deux éclairages bien différents permettent de mettre en évidence la beauté de la vie. Le premier consiste à appréhender l’existence sous des couleurs pastel que certains assimileront injustement à de la naïveté. Terrence Malick en a fait l’amère expérience avec son sublime Tree of Life. Le second est semblable à une eau-forte flamande : sa clarté réside dans l’espace ténu entre deux traits noirs ciselés à l’acide. Lars von Trier a résolument opté pour cette teinte sombre dans Melancholia, disséquant avec minutie les affres de la mélancolie.

Justine, après s’être soigneusement auto-détruite, n’a plus qu’un seul espoir : engloutir l’humanité entière dans le néant infini mais néanmoins lucide qui la ronge. Le bonheur lui est inconnu. Il témoigne de tout ce qu’elle sait être faux en ce monde ; à l’image de son mari, à l’image de ses parents. Cette obsession morbide l’entraîne dans un étrange ballet céleste avec sa soeur Claire. Cette soeur qu’elle imagine trahie dans son amour conjugal et torturée dans son amour maternel. Pour qu’elle la comprenne, enfin.

L’absence de Dieu est un élément fondamental pour comprendre la seconde partie de Melancholia. L’univers dans lequel évolue Justine est privé de toute grâce. Elle est en enfer car, en refusant de se prêter aux simulacres de vie que lui imposent ses proches, elle finit par nier la vie dans sa totalité. La fin est cependant lumineuse. Justine accepte pour la première fois de laisser entrer l’autre dans sa « cabane magique » dans une collision somptueuse qui résonne comme un retour à la vie au terme d’une nuit obscure de l’âme.

Le film de Lars von Trier est d’une maîtrise esthétique impressionnante malgré un prologue emprunté. L’influence de Tarkovski est évidente et le réalisateur danois reconnaît s’être replongé dans Solaris. Si le rôle de Justine a été imaginé pour Penélope Cruz, Kirsten Dunst n’incarne pas moins une désespérée saisissante. Les références graphiques et musicales sont nombreuses. Wagner et son Tristan et Isolde, bien sûr, qui transforment par moments ce film en opéra romantique mais aussi Bruegel, Bosch et Le Caravage qui sont autant de témoins convoqués par Justine pour souligner la vanité du monde contemporain.

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