REVIEWS

Fantastic Fest 2011 Audio Reviews: 'Take Shelter' & Von Trier's 'Melancholia'

by Tim Buel
September 28, 2011

Hello again folks! Tim from The Golden Briefcase with a few more audio reviews from Fantastic Fest 2011 in Austin. The last few days have been busy for us but we wanted to bring you some reviews for two films that we feel are thematically linked and deal with similar subject matter. The first is the Michael Shannon film Take Shelter in which Shannon's character has strange dreams of the apocalypse and an extreme paranoia about the safety of his family. The second one we're reviewing is Lars von Trier's Melancholia, a film also dealing with the potential end of the world and the depression of Kirsten Dunst's character.

Take Shelter [watch the trailer] is already being praised for its incredible lead performance from Michael Shannon, as well as the impeccable direction and score. Jeremy was a huge fan of the movie, giving it a 10 for 10 in his review, and I too was fond of it, likely putting it in my Top 5 of Fantastic Fest. Shannon's Curtis is a tortured man who wants nothing more than to protect his family from what he feels is a very real and incoming apocalyptic storm, yet he is harrowed by the possibility that these visions could be the signs of schizophrenia, which his mother has had for years. The film showcases amazing visuals of these storms and is matched wonderfully with a sweeping score provided by David Wingo.

We took a minute after the screening to chat with Jacob Hall (@jacobshall) from Movies.com and Scott Beggs (@ColeAbaius) from Film School Rejects about their thoughts on Take Shelter as well. Listen here:

[Audio currently unavailable.]

Melancholia [watch the trailer] also handles the themes of the apocalypse, yet goes about doing so in a much different way. Lars von Trier, known for many controversial films including Fantastic Fest fave from 2009, Antichrist, returns with a story about depression in light of the end of the world. Kirsten Dunst and Charlotte Gainsbourg lead a great cast including Kiefer Sutherland and John Hurt, all of whom take part in what feels like a stage play drawn out over the running time of the film. The visuals for Melancholia are fairly astounding, a super slow-motion overture was the highlight for me. The score is definitely worth mentioning due to its epic scope and that fact that the Drafthouse sound system was able to fully realize the music's powerful impact.

This time we were joined again by Scott Beggs (@ColeAbaius) from Film School Rejects and also Luke Mullen (@ldmullen) from Film School Rejects, too, to chat about the new von Trier movie. Listen here:

[Audio currently unavailable.]

We are winding down on Fantastic Fest, with only two more days left, but we will do our best to bring you all just a few more reviews before we wrap up! As always, follow the rest of our coverage and past updates from Fantastic Fest 2011 held at the Alamo Drafthouse in Austin, and follow our main Twitter account @GoldenBriefcase for more audio reviews and posts. You can also follow @timbuel and @JeremyKKirk as we wrap things up down in Austin. We'll talk to everyone soon! Teaser photo above is from Melancholia.

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