Melancholia

Black bile (Greek: µέλαινα χολή, melaina chole), also lugubriousness, from the Latin lugere, to mourn; moroseness, from the Latin morosus, self-willed, fastidious habit; wistfulness, from old English wist: intent, or saturnine, was a concept in ancient and pre-modern medicine. Melancholy was one of the four temperaments matching the four humours. In the 19th century, "melancholia" could be physical as well as mental, and melancholic conditions were classified as such by their common cause rather than by their properties.

History

The name "melancholia" comes from the old medical belief of the four humours: disease or ailment being caused by an imbalance in one or other of the four basic bodily liquids, or humours. Personality types were similarly determined by the dominant humor in a particular person. According to Hippocrates and subsequent tradition, melancholia was caused by an excess of black bile, hence the name, which means "black bile", from Ancient Greek μέλας (melas), "dark, black", and χολή (kholé), "bile"; a person whose constitution tended to have a preponderance of black bile had a melancholic disposition. In the complex elaboration of humorist theory, it was associated with the earth from the Four Elements, the season of autumn, the spleen as the originating organ and cold and dry as related qualities. In astrology it showed the influence of Saturn, hence the related adjective saturnine.

Lars von Trier

Lars von Trier (Danish: [lɑːs fʌn ˈtˢʁiːˀɐ]; born Lars Trier; 30 April 1956) is a Danish film director and screenwriter. He is closely associated with the Dogme 95 collective – an avant-garde filmmaking movement – although his own films have taken a variety of approaches. Known as a provocateur, his work has frequently divided critical opinion. Nevertheless, von Trier is widely regarded as one of the most accomplished and influential directors in world cinema.

Von Trier began making films at the age of eleven. He periodically suffers from depression, and also from various fears and phobias, including an intense fear of flying. As he quipped in an interview, "basically, I'm afraid of everything in life, except filmmaking." His first publicly released film was the 1977 experimental short The Orchid Gardener and his first feature came seven years later with The Element of Crime (1984). Among many prizes, awards and nominations, he is the recipient of the Palme d'Or (for Dancer in the Dark), the Grand Prix, the Technical Grand Prize (for The Element of Crime) and the Prix du Jury at the Cannes Film Festival.

Charlotte Gainsbourg

Charlotte Lucy Gainsbourg (born 21 July 1971) is a British-French actress and singer. She is the daughter of English actress Jane Birkin and French singer and songwriter Serge Gainsbourg. After making her musical debut with her father on the song "Lemon Incest" at the age of twelve, she released an album with her father at the age of fifteen. More than twenty years passed before she released three albums as an adult (5:55, IRM and Stage Whisper) to commercial and critical success. Gainsbourg has also appeared in many films, including several directed by Lars von Trier, and has received both a César Award and the Cannes Film Festival Best Actress Award.

Background

Gainsbourg was born in London, to English actress and singer Jane Birkin and French actor and singer-song writer Serge Gainsbourg. Gainsbourg was born at the height of her parents fame as they had made headlines several years earlier with the sexually explicit song Je t'aime... moi non plus and by that point had become notorious for their turbulent relationship and multiple artistic collaborations. As a result her birth and childhood were well publicized.

Kirsten Dunst

Kirsten Caroline Dunst (/ˈkɪrstɛn/; born April 30, 1982) is an American actress, singer and model. She made her film debut in Woody Allen's short film Oedipus Wrecks for the anthology film New York Stories (1989). At the age of twelve, Dunst gained widespread recognition as vampire Claudia in Interview with the Vampire (1994), a role for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress. She appeared in Little Women the same year and in Jumanji the following year. After a recurring role in the NBC medical drama ER (1996–97) as Charlie Chemingo and co-starring in films such as Wag the Dog (1997), Small Soldiers (1998) and The Virgin Suicides (1999), Dunst transitioned into romantic comedies and comedy-dramas, starring in Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999), Bring It On (2000), Get Over It and Crazy/Beautiful (both released in 2001).

Dunst achieved international fame for her portrayal of Mary Jane Watson in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy (2002–07). Since then, her films have included the romantic comedy Wimbledon (2004), the science fiction romantic comedy-drama Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) and Cameron Crowe's romantic tragicomedy Elizabethtown (2005). She played the title role in Sofia Coppola's biographical film Marie Antoinette (2006) and starred in the comedy film How to Lose Friends & Alienate People (2008). She won the Best Actress Award at the Cannes Film Festival and the Saturn Award for Best Actress for her performance in Lars von Trier's Melancholia (2011).