Judging from the trailer for Melancholia -- which interrupts marital bliss with the pending end of humanity -- Lars von Trier has not gone all warm and cuddly. Though, as the director tells Empire, he did take it easy on star Kirsten Dunst -- if only because her role was fairly hands off.
"I think that Kirsten got off far too easy. Far too easy," von Trier joked to Empire. "She was not dragged through any masturbation. She had a very smooth ride, I would say. But she did an extremely good job." As for the film itself, the Antichrist director says it's romantic -- albeit not in a conventional way.
"Melancholia, [which is the name of] the planet, is kind of ten times bigger than the Earth, and I liked the idea of being 'swallowed' by Melancholia. I thought that was quite nice," he said. "And then I read today that that's actually one of the virtues of romanticism - willingly being purified by dying. In fact, the film contains maybe more of the original idea of romanticism. I'm just saying that a lot of films today, their interpretation of romanticism is... quite boring, I think."
Outstanding. Melancholia premieres at the Cannes Film Festival next month. Check out a new still from the film, via Empire, above.
ยท Von Trier Talks 'Melancholia' [Empire]