QUIRKY, idiosyncratic film-maker Lars von Trier obviously feels satisfied that he has brought “Melancholia” to the stage where it is fit for others to see, handsomely mounted, visually memorable, dramatically challenging.

Melancholia is a large celestial body on collision course for planet Earth. The husband of Claire (Charlotte Gainsbourg) has funded an ostentatious wedding reception for her sister Justine.

The sisters are brimful of affection for each other, but making heavy weather of it.

Justine is a psychological mess. While the guests wait for the newlyweds to cut the cake, she’s screwing the boss’s nephew on the lawn.

She has heavy bouts of depression. She gives the groom the flick midway through consummation. She brutalises a magnificent horse that refuses to go forward over a bridge.

Kirsten Dunst plays her magnificently, covering a full gamut from luminously magnificent to drably plain.

But as cataclysm approaches (when it arrives it looks magnificent and credible), I found myself wondering, what does von Trier want us to take from it all? It’s there for people to determine if they have the determination to tough it out.

My assessment is that he’s reminding us that we are microcosms of a wider universe, vulnerable to forces beyond our control. But, regardless of Dunst’s beauty and acting power, I doubt we need 136 minutes of slow-paced film to work that out.

At Dendy