To the Wonder Review

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."