Appearances of Melancholy in Lars von Trier’s Cinema: A Woman in the Triangle of Illness, Sinfulness and Wisdom – Justine
Melancholia was first discussed by Ancient Greek philosophers, as a state of detachment from the world and a pessimistic mood, attributed to the increase in black bile in the body, and treatment methods were investigated. Melancholia, initially viewed as a condition that led to laziness (acedia), one of the seven deadly sins, and was negated in the Early Medieval period. However, it gained a privileged status in the Late Medieval period—under the influence of the Renaissance—when melancholics came to be seen as geniuses seeking to understand divine order and nature. During and after the Age of Enlightenment, societies began to be governed by rational principles instead of religious beliefs, and as a result of the rapid development of medical science, melancholia tended to be seen as a disease that prevented people from participating in production. Although the view that accepts melancholia as a type of depression has been dominant throughout the period to date, there are also philosophers and scientists who continue to associate this mood with genius and creativity. Lars von Trier’s 2011 film Melancholia tells the story of two sisters with opposite characters, placing them in an apocalyptic setting to explore their psychological responses to the end of the world. Justine, one of the sisters and described as a melancholic character, is the main subject of this study. Trier constructs Justine as a character who embodies historical conceptions of melancholia —depicting her at various points as a sick woman, a sinner, and ultimately a figure of wisdom. Employing the threeBdimensional character analysis method, the study examines Justine’s physical/biological, spiritual, and socioBcultural traits; her emotions, behaviors, and relationships; and the director’s cinematographic choices and intertextual references that contribute to her characterization. The aim of the study is to reveal Trier’s perspective on melancholy.
Lars von Trier Sinemasında Melankolinin Görünümleri: Hastalık, Günahkârlık ve Bilgelik Üçgeninde Bir Kadın – Justine
Melankoli, ilk kez Antik Yunan filozofları tarafından ele alınmış, kişinin dünyadan kopması ve karamsar bir ruh hâline bürünmesi durumu vücutta kara safranın artışına bağlanmış ve tedavi yöntemleri araştırılmıştır. Erken Orta Çağ’da kişiyi yedi büyük günahtan biri olan tembelliğe (‘acedia’) ittiği düşünülen ve olumsuzlanan melankoli, Geç Orta Çağ’da, Rönesans’ın da etkisiyle ayrıcalıklı bir konuma yükselmiş, melankoliklerin ilahi düzeni ve doğayı anlamaya çalışan dâhiler oldukları düşünülmüştür. Aydınlanma Çağı ve sonrasında toplumların dinsel inançlar yerine rasyonel ilkeler ile yönetilmeye başlanB ması ve buna paralel olarak tıp biliminin hızla gelişmesi sonucunda melankolinin kişiyi üretime katılmaktan alıkoyan bir hastalık olarak görülme eğilimi artmıştır. Bugüne dek uzanan süreçte, melankoliyi depresyonun bir çeşidi olarak kabul eden görüş başat olmakla birlikte, bu ruh durumunu deha ve yaratıcılık ile ilişkilendirmeye devam eden düşünürler ve bilim insanları da bulunmaktadır. Lars von Trier’in 2011 yapımı filmi Melankoli (Melancholia) birbirine zıt karakterdeki iki kız kardeşin öyküsünü anlatmakta, karakterleri bir kıyamet atmosferi içine yerleştirerek, dünyanın yok oluşuna verdikleri tepkileri analiz etmektedir. Kız kardeşlerden biri olan ve melankolik bir karakter olarak tanımlanan Justine, bu çalışmanın ana konusudur. Trier, Justine’i melankolinin tarihsel süreç içerisinde var olan tüm tanımlarını kendinde barındıran bir karakter olarak kurgulamış, onu kimi zaman hasta, kimi zaman günahkâr ve nihayetinde bilge bir kadın olarak resmetmiştir. Çalışma sırasında dramatik çözümlemenin önemli bir parçası olan üç boyutlu karakter analizi yöntemi kullanılarak, Justine’in fiziksel/biyolojik, ruhsal ve sosyal/kültürel özellikleri, kendisine özgü duygu, davranış ve tepkileri, diğer karakterlerle ilişkileri, yönetmenin karakteri betimlemede rol oynayan sinematografik seçimleri ve başvurduğu referanslar incelenmiştir. Çalışmanın amacı Trier’nin melankoliye bakış açısını ortaya koymaktır.
Melancholia has been studied by many different philosophers and scientists from Ancient Greece to the present day and is generally defined as a mental state characterized by emotions and behaviors such as pessimism, introversion, and isolation from society. Melancholia, which was first discussed by Ancient Greek philosophers, was thought to be a symptom caused by an increase in black bile in the body, and attempts were made to cure it with purifying physical treatments. In the Early Medieval Period, melancholy—associated with laziness, one of the seven major sins in the Christian faith—was defined as a demonic delusion that prevented a person from working. In the Late Medieval Period, with the influence of the Renaissance movement, completely different attributes were added to melancholy. Melancholics who turned inward and meditated were thought to be geniuses who had the ability to connect with the divine. After the Age of Enlightenment, melancholics who isolated themselves from society and were reluctant to participate in the workforce were again classified as an undesirable group. Although the view that accepts melancholia as a type of depression has been dominant in modern psychiatry to date, there are also philosophers and scientists who continue to associate this mood with genius.
Lars von Trier’s 2011 film Melancholia presents the story of two sisters, one of whom is tightly attached to the world, and the other is a melancholic character who has had problems with adaptation since her early years, in a preB apocalyptic atmosphere. While Claire tries to add meaning to her life by fulfilling the requirements of bourgeois life, Justine is in deep melancholy. Trier constructed Justine as a “timeless” character who embodies all known definitions of melancholy. Thanks to this fiction, the film presents not only a state of emotion but also an existential state of consciousness to its audience.
The audience, who has information about different periods of Justine’s life, first recognizes her as a woman in love who is about to get married. The venue where the wedding takes place, the profile of the guests, and the table rules expected to be followed reveal that she grew up in a bourgeois family and belongs to the upperBmiddle economic class. In parallel, it is also stated that she works as a copywriter in an advertising company and that she is a successful and creative personality. However, from the first moments of the wedding, it becomes clear that Justine is not very comfortable in this perfect picture and is making an extreme effort to adapt to her surroundings. Justine first presents a profile corresponding to the definition of melancholia in Ancient Greece. She doesn’t like crowds and noise, finds the rules to be followed annoying, and tries to calm herself down by being alone in nature, sleeping, and taking a bath with hot water. Her sister and brotherBinBlaw think that she is sick, but her mother believes that Justine has had this adaptation problem since her early years and that it is not an illness but her nature. While most philosophers in Ancient Greece defined melancholy as a disease, philosophers such as Aristotle and Plato associated this mood with genius and saw it as a blessing that led a person to superior understanding.
While Justine’s melancholy initially manifests itself through silence and introspection, it evolves into a state compatible with Medieval melancholia later during the wedding. Justine, who begins to express the anger and lust accumulated inside her, argues with her boss and has sex with someone else, knowing that her husband might see it.
The third aspect of melancholy experienced by Justine is a state of ecstasy that allows one to grasp the universal truth through intuition and to reach divine knowledge, which belongs to the Late Medieval Period. As the planet Melancholia approaches Earth, it is seen that Justine first gets rid of the “disease,” then leaves behind the “sinfulness” presented by anger and lust, and becomes calm and even finds peace. Extinction is not a terrible end for her. As much as it is painful to exist, it is also comforting to disappear. Moreover, it is not possible to understand what is the end and what is the beginning in the universal plan. She calmly watches her sister’s desperate struggle and her nephew’s uneasiness and builds the Magic Cave, the most concrete symbol of her wisdom. Of course, the Magic Cave, which refers to Plato’s allegory of the cave, will not be able to save anyone from the apocalypse, but for her sister and nephew, who have never left the cave and have been dealing with shadows throughout their lives, the action that will minimize the pain of facing extinction is to return to the cave.
While Lars von Trier presents all aspects of melancholy with the character of Justine, in the finale he takes her to the highest level of wisdom in a Baroque manner and reveals his perspective on this state of mind. For Trier, melancholy is neither just darkness, nor just indifference, nor just despair. For him, melancholy is the courage to face the most naked state of existence, beyond all these appearances. The pain of extinction can only be relieved by feeling the meaninglessness of existence in one’s bones. Moreover, the person who attributes meaning to existence and nonexistence in her own way must also accept her helplessness in the face of divine knowledge and surrender to this mysterious flow—like Ophelia, who threw herself into the water singing songs at the moment of death, or Justine, who met the moment of the collision of two planets without blinking her eyes.
