Nancy’s Reads & Reels: "Martha Marcy May Marlene" & "Melancholia"

Who is Martha Marcy May Marlene? The title character played by Elizabeth Olsen is named Martha but the creepy cult leader and father figure, Patrick (John Hawkes), calls her Marcy May and the women in the family call themselves Marlene when they answer the phone.

I sensed that everyone in the theatre was hoping that Martha and her sister Lucy (Sarah Paulson) would explain what led Martha to disappear for two years after their mother’s death and why Martha is so cruel to her sister — “you will make a terrible mother.”  Why did she run away from the cult once she had seemingly gotten over her horror at discovering that the family members are violent criminals?

Great acting by Elizabeth Olsen and John Hawkes, great cinematography and I’m okay with the ending but 1 hour and 41 minutes trying to figure out where many of the scenes take place made me long for coherence. The movie cuts back and forth between the lakeside home of her sister and the bucolic but menacing enclave of the cult.

Melancholia was another downer of a movie. Justine (Kirsten Dunst) is getting married and at first she seems happy despite being two hours late to the lavish reception given by her wealthy brother-in-law, John (Keifer Sutherland), and the anger of her sister, Claire (Charlotte Gainsbourg). As the reception progresses it becomes clear that something is wrong with Justine. She keeps disappearing and doing bizarre things. Her husband, Michael (Alexander Skarsgard) seems clueless, and how these two got together is a mystery. Eventually, Michael leaves the reception without Justine as she seems to have become totally unhinged. The photography is beautiful as all this takes place at a beautiful resort or John’s home -- it never makes that clear. Mention is made of a mysterious planet that is heading towards earth but John insists it will not actually collide with the earth.

Part II of Melancholia finds Justine deep into despair but then as Claire informs her that the end really is near she cheers up. The planet Melancholia is indeed going to collide with the earth and that will be the end of life. Claire is the one who has fallen into despair. The movie went on way too long as far as I was concerned but it was interesting. When the end comes there are no fires, crashes and screams -- just one final explosion and then silence. The photography of the planet as it nears earth is beautiful and worth seeing.

As in both movies, make of it what you will and talk it over with others. What the directors/writers are trying to explain seems unclear to me but maybe not to you.