The Last Movie I Saw

It's not often that I wish that I had avoided a movie, but that is the case with Lars Von Trier's Melancholia. As well photographed and acted as it is, it is really depressing and that is probably the last reaction I want to have to a film (or really any artistic expression). It's essentially a story about the end of the world, and it seems somewhat open to a metaphoric interpretation where that really only applies to a couple of characters, two sisters named Justine and Claire. In the first half of the film, newlywed Justine gives in to what appears to be an all-consuming depression as her elaborate reception, planned and paid for by her sister and brother-in-law, plays out in the latter's fabulous country estate. Her unhappiness eventually renders her close to catatonic, and in the second half Claire tries to revive her even as natural catastrophe looms over the otherwise idyllic estate. Claire, unlike her sister, battles against the onslaught of despair, but in the end the fight is pointless and ineffective. I like to be challenged by movies, and I've nothing against an unhappy ending, but this movie just seems to wallow in bleakness, and frankly I've got no use for that, no matter how pretty some of the shots are. I haven't bothered with any of Von Trier's movies since Breaking the Waves, which had a similar effect on me fifteen years ago. I think it's safe to say I won't be bothering with anything else he comes up with in the future.