European Film Awards 2011: 'Melancholia' Leads The Pack With 8 Nominations (VIDEO)

"Melancholia" is the film to beat at this year's European Film Awards, which announced its nominated films Saturday at the Seville European Film Festival. The Lars von Trier film leads the pack with eight nominations including best film, best director, two best actress nods for Kirsten Dunst and Charlotte Gainsbourg and best screenwriter. Following "Melancholia" -- all with half the number of noms it earned -- are Tom Hooper's "The King's Speech," Michel Hazanavicius' "The Artist," Aki Kaurismaki's "Le Havre," Susanne Bier's "In a Better World" and Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne's "The Kid with a Bike." "The King's Speech" and "In a Better World" won best picture and best foreign film, respectively, at the Academy Awards this year.

Whether "Melancholia" will get as much love outside of Europe remains to be seen, when it opens in the U.S. in limited release on Nov. 11. The film, which follows a family's moments before the end of the world, is a gorgeous, daring portrayal of human instincts, depression and death, played equally brilliantly by Kirsten Dunst and Charlotte Gainsbourg. Its originality is hard to come by these days, or ever, really, and we hope it receives similar recognition come Oscar season, barring any further von Trier gaffes.

The European Film Awards -- which have honored the best of European cinema, directors, producers and actors every year since 1988 -- have never shied away from honoring controversial directors. Last year, Roman Polanski's "The Ghost Writer" swept the awards with six wins for best film, director, actor, screenwriter, composer and production designer.

Watch trailers for all the best film nominees, and see below for a full list of nominees. The awards will be presented on Dec. 3 in Berlin.

EUROPEAN FILM 2011
THE ARTIST, France
WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY: Michel Hazanavicius
PRODUCED BY: Thomas Langmann & Emmanuel Montamat

LE GAMIN AU VELO (The Kid with a Bike), Belgium/France/Italy
WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY: Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne
PRODUCED BY: Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne, Denis Freyd & Andrea Occhipinti

HÆVNEN (In a Better World), Denmark
DIRECTED BY: Susanne Bier
WRITTEN BY: Anders Thomas Jensen
PRODUCED BY: Sisse Graum Jørgensen

THE KING’S SPEECH, UK
DIRECTED BY: Tom Hooper
WRITTEN BY: David Seidler
PRODUCED BY: Iain Canning, Emile Sherman, Gareth Unwin

LE HAVRE, Finland/France/Germany
WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY: Aki Kaurismäki
PRODUCED BY: Aki Kaurismäki & Karl Baumgartner

MELANCHOLIA, Denmark/Sweden/France/Germany
WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY: Lars von Trier
PRODUCED BY: Meta Louise Foldager & Louise Vesth

EUROPEAN DIRECTOR 2011
Susanne Bier for HÆVNEN (In a Better World)
Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne for LE GAMIN AU VELO (The Kid with a Bike)
Aki Kaurismäki for LE HAVRE
Béla Tarr for A TORINOI LO (The Turin Horse)
Lars von Trier for MELANCHOLIA

EUROPEAN ACTRESS 2011:
Kirsten Dunst in MELANCHOLIA
Cécile de France in LE GAMIN AU VELO (The Kid with a Bike)
Charlotte Gainsbourg in MELANCHOLIA
Nadezhda Markina in ELENA
Tilda Swinton in WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN

EUROPEAN ACTOR 2011:
Jean Dujardin in THE ARTIST
Colin Firth in THE KING'S SPEECH
Mikael Persbrandt in HÆVNEN (In a Better World)
Michel Piccoli in HABEMUS PAPAM
André Wilms in LE HAVRE

EUROPEAN SCREENWRITER 2011:
Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne for LE GAMIN AU VELO (The Kid with a Bike)
Anders Thomas Jensen for HÆVNEN (In a Better World)
Aki Kaurismäki for LE HAVRE
Lars von Trier for MELANCHOLIA

CARLO DI PALMA EUROPEAN CINEMATOGRAPHER AWARD 2011:
Manuel Alberto Claro for MELANCHOLIA
Fred Kelemen for A TORINOI LO (The Turin Horse)
Guillaume Schiffman for THE ARTIST
Adam Sikora for ESSENTIAL KILLING

EUROPEAN EDITOR 2011:
Tariq Anwar for THE KING'S SPEECH
Mathilde Bonnefoy for DREI (Three)
Molly Malene Stensgaard for MELANCHOLIA

EUROPEAN PRODUCTION DESIGNER 2011:
Paola Bizzarri for HABEMUS PAPAM
Antxón Gómez for LA PIEL QUE HABITO (The Skin I Live in)
Jette Lehmann for MELANCHOLIA

EUROPEAN COMPOSER 2011:
Ludovic Bource for THE ARTIST
Alexandre Desplat for THE KING’S SPEECH
Alberto Iglesias for LA PIEL QUE HABITO (The Skin I Live in)
Mihály Vig for A TORINOI LO (The Turin Horse)

Comments

[catcancook]

12:05 PM on 11/27/2011

I saw Melanhcholia yesterday. It was interesting but I can't say I really enjoyed it. The film was photographed beautifully tho. The drama was so-so to me. It's in 2 parts and I preferred the lst part of the wedding over the 2nd.

[HarrysLeSabre]

12:48 PM on 11/11/2011

"in limited release on Nov. 11"

Say what? I plunked down $9.99 to watch this On-demand last weekend... only to find it on cable channel HDNTV 2 days later.

[UtopiaMinor]

12:10 PM on 11/10/2011

The artist looks great, so does Le Havre! I will probably end up seeing Melancholia despite the reviews here.

[Gronkie]

09:54 PM on 11/08/2011

I'd give it props for cinemetography, but other than that, forget it. It took so effin long to get to the effin point, which all happened in the last effin second of the movie. Up until then it was just effin boring to the max.

And yes, I got it. I just didn't care because it took too effin long to get there.

[paulrm]

03:07 PM on 11/07/2011

The most pretentious, boring pieces of dreck I've seen in years.

[Gronkie]

09:52 PM on 11/08/2011

Agreed.

[Matt Kelly 1]

01:56 PM on 11/11/2011

ditto

[jglow77]

01:26 AM on 11/07/2011

Since when Oscars recognize originality? Few americal movies that received Palme d'Or (M*A*S*H, Pulp Fiction) of the most prestigious Cannes film festival usually are listed as SHOULD HAVE received an Oscar. In Cannes, Lars Von Trier might have ruined his chances in 2011 by his gaffes. And I'm happy though surprised that Kirsten Dunst won the award there, not that awards mean anything, still nice.

[ArtsyJane]

11:51 AM on 11/06/2011

I can't wait to see it!
I also can't wait to see Kaurismaki's "Le Havre".

[butchcliff]

06:45 AM on 11/06/2011

Fabulous shot of Kiki. Beautiful

[chrysostomos]

08:32 PM on 11/05/2011

I can't wait to see this! LArs von trier is a master auteur- and none his films has ever disappointed. Difficult,scandalous , uncomfortable his work challenges the viewer to confront some of the darkest corners of the human psyche. And his films are all exquisitely shot, and beautifully crafted.

[Candide33]

08:24 PM on 11/05/2011

That movie was so depressing that I wanted to gouge my eyes out! Boring does not even begin to describe it! I would love to know what the big deal was.

[lifeandvictory]

09:37 PM on 11/05/2011

Maybe it's a reflection? Hmmm . .

[Candide33]

03:30 AM on 11/06/2011

Maybe it was really boring and you are just pretentious, ever think about that?

[Marc Driftmeyer]

03:07 AM on 11/08/2011

Having been married to a Manic Depressant, this movie made drying paint exciting. There was plenty of arching and interesting sub-dialogues that went no where in the first act.

[Caryn Banker]

05:35 PM on 11/06/2011

I would imagine it's pretty difficult to do a movie about manic-depression and keep it upbeat and bouncing along.

I don't know why, but I always want to dismiss Lars Von Trier as an overly 'arty' pretentious, self important fraud; but I have to say, I've never been disappointed in his movies before. He really is good.

[Toronto7]

07:51 PM on 11/05/2011

This film is as close as one could get to the most stunningly lucid dream... this is great art... end of discussion... A true auteur Lars von T!

[pakaal]

08:00 PM on 11/05/2011

Yeah, I didn't wait for the theatrical release, already rented it on iTunes. Stunning is the word.

[bassmeant1]

07:44 PM on 11/05/2011

A very good movie in a sea of fecal matter. The lead character is really unlikable, but still pulls it out at the end. Opening few mintues alone clobber the entirety of most other movies. This is not a "western" movie and most Americans will not like the tempo, nor the message. The use of small props to imply big events was brilliant. Watch and enjoy... if you plan to go see "the thing' prequal, watch this twice instead and save your money on the other. Peace

[youcanbehappy]

09:41 AM on 11/08/2011

This is the kind of review critics we need around here. I love the review. No spoilers and right to the point. Now I really have to see this movie.

[fjohnanderson]

07:29 PM on 11/05/2011

It will not win best picture no matter how good it is the Acadamey will never give a Sci-Fi film the Award for best film ever! It's a damn shame too.

[yannb]

07:18 PM on 11/05/2011

Probably one of the best movies I've seen in years. In anyone who has gone through depression or has had a close relative who did, this movie will strike a string that will move their entire body and mind.

[youcanbehappy]

09:36 AM on 11/08/2011

Thank you. I've been wanting to see this movie and after reading some comments here, I wasn't sure but its back on the list of Must see!

[HarrysLeSabre]

12:47 PM on 11/11/2011

Not "anyone"...

[blueriver]

07:07 PM on 11/05/2011

I watched this glorious movie last week (It's currently playing on Time Warner Cable's "movie on Demand") It certainly won't appeal to all or even most tastes. It's an intelligent movie for intelligent adults. It contains no bathroom humor,car chases,exploding heads,vapmires or cartoon heroes which most movies churned out by Hollywood seem to need to attract low I.Q. audiences. It's ostensibly a movie about depression and how it affects the sad ones and those around them. It is about Kirsten Dunst's own melancholia and the aptly named plamet Melancholia which is a day or 2 away from smashing in to our planet.Excellent,excelllent excellent all around. It is Von Trier's MASTERPIECE and is even better that his other 2 masterpieces BREAKING THE WAVES and DANCER IN THE DARK. For intelligent viewers only. Enjoy.

[Candide33]

08:29 PM on 11/05/2011

Psst!... The emperor has no clothes on.

[Lateef Murdock]

08:48 PM on 11/05/2011

Low I.Q.? Wow! I love a lot of the kinds of films you described. And, I assure you I am anything but, "low I.Q.."

Does the word, "pretentious" mean anything to you?

[N133]

02:57 PM on 11/07/2011

I like exploding heads also, but I'll happily admit that those movies appeal to the lowest common denominator. High dudgeon here is wasted. ;)