Rated
R (Some Sexuality/Nudity)
Running
Time: 1 Hour & 53 Minutes
Cast-
Ben
Affleck-Neil
Olga
Kurylenko-Marina
Rachel
McAdams-Jane
Javier
Bardem-Father Quintana
Tatiana
Chiline-Tatiana
Romina
Mondello-Anna
Tony
O'Gans-Sexton
Charles
Baker-Carpenter
Marshall
Bell-Bob
Directed
by Terrence Malick
 | ||
| Let there be twirling: Ben Affleck and Olga Kurylenko in Terrence Malick's latest film, "To the Wonder." |
Note: Viewed through Video on Demand. In English, French, and Spanish with English subtitles.
Terrence
Malick doesn't make films; he creates visual poems. Anybody who's ever sat in a
high school English class probably struggled with poetry at some point as it is
one of the most difficult forms of writing to define. Just as a painter uses
color on a canvas, poets use words to convey a certain emotion or idea and
sometimes this can lean toward the abstract, resulting in a lot of hair-pulling
as you try to discern the author's meaning. This pretty much sums up Malick's
work, who continues to shed all forms of conventional narrative with each
successive film. Seven months shy of hitting seventy, the notoriously reclusive
director has made only five features since 1973, with a twenty year gap between
"Days of Heaven" and "The Thin Red Line," followed by another
seven year hiatus for "The New World." Premiering at the 2011 Cannes
Film Festival, Malick's last film, the highly anticipated "Tree of Life,"
was met with boos and applause but despite its mixed reception, it nonetheless
won the prestigious Palme d'Or award. A drama set against the backdrop of the entire universe, "The Tree of
Life" is without a doubt one of the best films I have ever seen and is the
very definition of a masterpiece. Watching the formation of the universe while Zbigniew
Preisner's Lacrimosa played in the background
was not only mesmerizing, it moved me to tears. Thankfully, I didn't have to wait
long for Malick's next feature and less than two years later we have "To
the Wonder." I don't know if it's because he's starting to feel his age but
his sudden burst of creative energy recently is rather surprising, with three projects
currently in various stages of post-production. However, this runs the risk of
suffering a loss in quality and unfortunately, that is exactly what happens
with his latest film. Its images are immaculately shot and beautifully framed but
"To the Wonder" represents a rare misstep for the elusive director and
will likely leave most viewers cold as there's no emotional center to latch
onto.
Neil
(Ben Affleck), an American in Paris, and single mother Marina (Olga Kurylenko) are
madly in love. The two travel 'to the wonder'—Le Mont Saint-Michel in Normandy,
France—before Neil returns home to Bartlesville, Oklahoma. He brings Marina and
her ten-year-old daughter Tatiana (Tatiana Chiline) with him. Balancing his work
as an environmental inspector with his newfound familial responsibilities,
Neil's domestic bliss with Marina proves to be short-lived. They soon grow distant
and with Tatiana having trouble adjusting to life in America, Marina decides to
end her relationship with Neil and flies back to Paris when her visa expires. Later,
Neil reconnects with an old flame, Jane (Rachel McAdams), and the two quickly
rekindle their romance. However, he cuts their love affair short upon learning
that Marina is unhappy and desperately wants to return to the United States. Meanwhile,
a priest named Father Quintana (Javier Bardem) finds himself experiencing a severe
crisis of faith while trying to care for the more needy souls among his flock.
'What
the f*ck did I just watch?' It is almost never a good sign if that is the first
thought that pops in your head after viewing a film. Directors like Christopher
Nolan and Danny Boyle have played around with narrative structure in their respective
films but for Terrence Malick, it's a whole new ball game. His stories are akin
to a visual doodle (and I mean this in the nicest
way possible) built out of what critic Bilge Ebiri describes as 'fragmentary
moments, glimpses of memories, and occasionally even visions.' Loosely autobiographical
(Malick spent much of the 1980's living in Paris with his second wife Michele
Morette. The two divorced in 1998 and shortly after, Malick married Alexandra Wallace,
a former childhood sweetheart), "To the Wonder" opens with Neil and Marina
sitting in a train in Paris and enjoying each other's company. They are in the
early days of a love affair, with Marina comparing herself to a 'newborn' in a
whispered voiceover. Despite their intense passion for each other, it's immediately
clear that the two aren't as close as they appear to be. There's a certain aloofness
to Neil's demeanor. He always resides at the edge of the frame while Marina is
often in the center, caught up in her newfound feelings of romance. For her, it
is like a dream and she believes that with Neil, she'll forever be at peace.
Out of the blue, Neil asks Marina and her pre-teen daughter Tatiana to come
live in America with him but once in Oklahoma, the cracks in their relationship
start to show. Tatiana is the first to notice her mother's unhappiness and Neil, while genuinely caring, is
noncommittal when it comes to the prospects of marriage. At the end of the
first act, Marina decides to return to Paris with her daughter.
Malick's
films may lack a narrative but they're always thematically ambitious. "The
Tree of Life" focused on Sean Penn's character coming to terms with his brother's
death while exploring several existential concepts such as life and death. The
focus in "To the Wonder" is on
love and Malick distills the 'story' to its barest emotions. Unfortunately, you
never feel the passion or the intimacy because the characters are little more
than ciphers. When Neil and Marina (or Jane) start fighting, we're unable to
feel their pain since we don't even know what they're fighting about. The softly whispered voiceover and
constant twirling from the female cast drain the film of its meaning and turns
it into a self-parody. And have I mentioned the twirling? Man, there is a lot of
twirling here. Marina twirls in the house, she twirls in the fields, and she
even twirls in the supermarket! Hell, Jane also joins in on the fun. The impressionistic
approach that Malick employs proves to be the film's undoing. I just found
myself unable to care about the characters as there's nothing to latch onto.
Even Father Quintana's subplot goes nowhere. His doubts on the existence of God
and his struggle to reconcile his faith with the daily suffering he sees is potent
material yet it seems like it was tossed as an afterthought. Quintana barely
interacts with the other characters anyway and the conversations he has with
them, or any conversation for that matter, are barely audible.
The
best elements of "To the Wonder" are the visuals and the score. Reuniting
with cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki, Malick fills every frame with gorgeous
scenery. Immaculately shot, the magic hour photography lends the film a dreamy tranquility.
Its picturesque landscapes of Middle America nostalgically recalls a more innocent
time. My only gripe is that the handheld camerawork can at times be more of a distraction
with its lingering close-ups. Hanan Townshend's luscious score creeps in the background,
complemented by an eclectic selection of classical music ranging from Berlioz
to Bach and of course, Francisco Lupica's famous Cosmic Beam Experience.
Given
that there's so little dialogue, it's hard to sufficiently judge the performances.
Ben Affleck may have 'read works by Tolstoy, Dostoevsky and F. Scott Fitzgerald,
and watched movies starring Gary Cooper to shape [his] character' but all that
homework must've been left on the cutting room floor. He's still the lead and anchors
all three acts yet Affleck is a non-entity here who constantly wavers in and
out the frame. Honestly, it's like watching a rock. Rachel McAdams pops in for
fifteen minutes in what amounts to a glorified cameo while Javier Bardem spends
his scenes glumly staring off into space. The only cast member to leave a memorable
impression is Olga Kurylenko. She makes for an ethereal presence and dare I say, saves the film from becoming
a total disaster.
Released
in a limited number of theaters and also available on VOD since April 12, 2013,
"To the Wonder" has received largely mixed reviews with 42% on Rotten
Tomatoes. Critics noted that it continues to 'demonstrate Terrence Malick's gift
for beautiful images, but its narrative is overly somber and emotionally unsatisfying.'
Similar to "The Tree of Life," the film was met with boos and applause
during its premiere at last year's Venice Film Festival. I don't imagine it finding
much of a wide audience either. If there's one thing the masses hate, its experimental
films. "To the Wonder" is a far cry from Malick's previous work and
yet I still recommend people watch it partly because we don't usually get films
like these all that often. It may be a failure all right but at least it's an
interesting one at that.
Final
Rating: 2.5 out of 5
"What is this love that loves us? That comes from nowhere? From all around? The sky. You, cloud. You love me, too."
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