"a beautiful film about the end of the world"
Melancholia is another Lars Von Trier's movie that opens to interpretation... why I like so much watching Trier's movies.
So my idea about this movie is related to Life and Death anthology.The film is splitted in two parts just to show two different important moments in someone's existence :LIFE-meaning the wedding, party, people around etc and DEATH- once Melancholia approaches.
Kirsten Dunst (Justine) character is the one that leads the movie flow as it starts by her being happy (scene in the car with Michael) then becoming strangely despressed.For me Justine was from the beginning the single one that knew what was going to happen...Melancholia hitting the Earth.
When she arrived- with 2 hours delay- at her wedding and all the people gathered were waiting for them she was more interested about the stars and the stable.It's when she realizes there is a new star on the sky- "a red one" and she starts feeling the connection with it.
Then she finds herself in a deep depression that she can't stand even for her wedding even if she hardly tries..during the wedding she says "sorry" to Claire claiming "but I tried.I really tried".
Justine was so depressed throught the first part of the film, she felt like she was dying - and she wanted to die, so when she finds out planet is heading toward Earth, she's fine with the fact she's going to die and embraces it..she's peacefull and calm because she already knew something was going to happen, is the moment when she receives the confirmation of her thoughts.There is a dialogue with her sister when she says " I just know some things..as the number of beans 674.I just know some things".
The scene with Justine lying naked bathed in the blue light from Melancholia and almost 'making love' with it.,, I took it as a metaphor of how severely depressed people sometimes embrace the thought of their own death with feelings of joy, calm and peace..because they know it;s "going to an end".
Once "Melancholia" gets closer Justine's condition improves while Claires becomes impacient quite lunatic.It's when Justine becomes the "normal" one and Claire the "lunatic"..and these are 2 different behaviours when facing Death: fear,anxiety,madness versus peacefull, assumed, calm and illuminated.
These are some ideas that passed through my mind just before I watched this movie..

Certified copy

Brief interpretation on this movie:

Juliette Binoche's character was the man's mistress, had a child by him, but he just wouldn't marry her how she obviously once thought he would, hence their relationship can be seen as a 'certified copy', ie, not the real thing. Hence her obsession with weddings, hence her strange reaction when their son asked 'why didn't you want him to sign my full name in the book?'... because the son does not have his surname. Hence her saying she's a 'single mother', hence her telling him that the waitress 'thought we were a married couple and I didn't tell her otherwise'... etc.

The anniversary they were celebrating was their 15 years together, not their marriage. This also explains why he stepped outside to take calls on his mobile, to talk to his wife. When he took a call outside when they were in the cafe, and the older waitress said to Juliette, 'he has a mistress... that's why you are looking at him'...and she said 'no', she put on a strange face....because actually she herself was his mistress.

At the end when she asks him to stay at the hotel ....to not catch the 9pm train (to his wife), it is probably something she has asked him hundreds of times before, hence his exasperated look....the man caught between two women. Hence, he was defending before 'the copy', in other words, implying that their relationship was like a marriage, that it didn't matter that he was legally married to another woman. Of course, just like in a true marriage, after 15 years together their relationship has become more of a 'warpath', time increasing their obvious differences.

Also the title is very suggestive.."Certified copy".If we think back to the speach James has at the begining of the movie..he then say that each copy can be an original if you look from other perspective.An "original" has value because we give it to..because we are used to associate "original" with meanings like: true, valueable, expensive etc..but even a copy ,if we don't know it's not an original, can be as appreciated as the original..just if you have other circumstances or perspectives.Other example is the painting they found in that gallery from Toscana..that was supossed to be an original for about 200 years because noone knew it was fake..and then he says:"who cares if it s copy and who cares where the original is placed".It's about enjoying the art as it comes..even in copies..and relating it to the movie plot I would say "live the moment" even if they were just copies of an "original couple".

Does the film and their relationship make sense in that context?