TENSIVITY IN THE PASSION AND IN THE SPACES OF <i>MELANCHOLIA</i>, BY LARS VON TRIER

Abstract

Melancholia, a film directed by Lars Von Trier, is the object of study of this analysis, which is based on the Greimasian semiotics. Melancholia is divided into three parts: an introduction, Chapter 1, called Justine, and Chapter 2, called Claire. This study focuses primarily on the two chapters without disregarding the introduction. The focus of the analysis is on the space and the plan of expression in the film taking into consideration the concepts of A. J. Greimas (1981). It is also considered the space, triage and the mixed operations of Fontanille and Zilberberg (2001) which are combined with the structural thought of Wöllflin (2006). Following this approach, it is examined the passion that gives the film its title. That is followed by a reflection upon the concept of melancholia, including the work Trauer und Melancholie (Freud, 1994) and the inquiry about how the discourse of the object under consideration creates the passion that gives the movie its title. All these are supported by analytical tools from the tensive semiotics of C. Zilberberg (2006). Thus, we seek to start a work on the syncretic semiotics of the cinema by approaching the film Melancholia, whose content and expression are rich sources for research on meaning.