It's hard not to compare these two films owing to their similar premises. Melancholia is grander, and it takes real risks in the way it plays with archetypes. Another Earth is quieter, more intimate, and arguably more interested in the way ordinary people deal with pain than von trier's film*, which is primarily interested in ideas. Both use a central sci-fi conceit as a vehicle to explore questions that have "universal" relevance: loss, depression, guilt, etc.
*You could argue against this facile dichotomy if you want. Easily. Von Trier deliberately contrasts Dunsts' character -- the metaphysical embodiment of depression -- with Gainsbourg's, whose desperation is made all the more palpable because it has absolutely nothing to do with the philosophical question the movie is preoccupied with: whether or not the apocalypse is a tragic event, or if human life is valuable at all.
Poll Results
| Option | Votes |
| Melancholia | 4 |
| Another Earth | 1 |
― Treeship, Saturday, 31 August 2013 05:25 (ten years ago) link