Knight of Cups (2016)

Knight of Cups (R)

"In his Cups"

Traipsing through the weird world of Hollywood, a depressingly lost scriptwriter goes through a series of relationships (sensual, family and business) to attempt to find meaning in his meaningless life in auteur Terrance Malick's obtuse yet seemingly autobiographical film, Knight of Cups.

In Tarot, the Knight of Cups signifies change, excitement and romance, a bringer of new ideas.  This does not accurately describe the film.  However, in Tarot if a card is dealt from the deck upside down (which as inferred by the poster for the film it has been), then the card is inversed and means the opposite; trickery, naivete, redundancy, tedium.  Now we are getting somewhere.  For all its faults and obtuseness, it makes Knight of Cups the most appropriately (and interestingly) titled film of the year, and probably the most obviously intimate look into the persona of Malick.

Using the terms and storylines from Medieval pilgrimage literature and the Tarot, Knight of Cups has more of striking visuals and cohesiveness than Malick's previous film To The Wonder.  The mere semblance of a plot gives Knight the upper hand, as does having a much more varied and stellar cast (Christian Bale stars but rarely talks and in turn is spoken to by Cate Blanchett, Brian Dennehy, Natalie Portman and others).  Yet again, Knight of Cups is another rumination on life, as Tree of Life was before it, a pastiche of the past, a montage of the moment.  Images shutter by, some breathtaking, some mundane, some surprisingly on low res video cameras instead of the gorgeous film photography of his previous efforts.  Also different is the use of Nature, often a dominating force in Terrance's films.  Here the Knight of Cups seems separated form the natural Earth until the very end of the film, he appears lost in a  world of marble, concrete and asphalt.  This intentional shift in tone works on your subconscious, but only in context to the rest of Malick's oeuvre and therein lies it's biggest problem.

For those steeped in Malickian lore, for those illuminated by ancient pilgrimage literature or well versed in the symbology and subtext of the Tarot (the movie's chapters and their repsective characters are all named for cards in the deck), even for ones such as these Knight of Cups would be a difficult movie to recommend.  And so your average American will have no interest in this Facebook moments-like tableaux of ex-girlfriend's speeches, family squabbles or extravagant Beverly Hills parties.  Terrance Malick's best work has an indescribable tone that can deeply affect the viewer and it just so happens that his movies are getting more and more specific in the audience it reaches for (himself mostly, but without a doubt there will be a small minority this movie will sing to).  It has neither the visual panache of Tree, the humble humanity of Thin Red Line nor the youthful destruction of Badlands and yet there are touches here and there where it does almost meet them.  How it was made, how a script was never shown to anyone, how the actors were unknowingly lead through these moments, all those interesting things are secondary to it's directors reason to make it, and the notoriously reclusive Malick certainly isn't going to tell us that.

For all the world Knight of Cups feels like a cryptic memory of a past life that someone outgrew and now reminisces about in some other part of the world with some other people who could never fully understand.  It's the kind of thing Terrance Malick does best (in fact the only one who does it at all), even if we also will never understand it as much as we'd like.

6 Slow Motion Dogs In Pools Missing Balls out of 10 (GOOD)

To The Wonder (2012)

To The Wonder (R)

"Wonder WTF were they thinking?"

Serial genius and cinema introvert Terrance Malick (Outlands, Tree of Life) crafts another incomprehensible, inner monologue burdened film, this time without all the metaphysical musings or dinosaur cameos or tour-de-force minimalist acting.  No, this time its a romance drama, a film about a strained relationship, and it stars Ben Affleck as an environmentalist with a woman problem for 2 hours.  Sigh.

Not that you'll be seeing much of Ben's face, if that is a deterrent.  The camera lens is always the main star of modern Malick films, and brooding Affleck or any of the characters are rarely seen talking on screen.  The film is as beautiful as the rest of Terry's oeuvre, though perhaps hampered by being centered in suburban Oklahoma.  The main female lead is constantly twirling twirling twirling, never can she stop spinning and you can almost forgive Affleck's indifference to a woman who is constantly flittering around like a broken humming bird who he has to chase her to show his love.  Actress Olga Kurylenko (Quantum of Solace) fills her dizzying role and speaks her tipsy french memoir laden monologue but don't ask if the acting is any good because that is not the point of this movie.  It is not story driven, it is image and emotion driven, the few scant pieces of dialogue barely give enough of an impression as to what the heck is actually going on, let alone form an opinion.  It is structured like an ambiguous novel where its up to you to fill in the numerous blanks.  It is interesting to see a film told through almost visuals alone, especially ones crafted so well (but begs to have a half hour edited out).  However Malick already did that to better effect in Tree of Life, with a more significant story and moving emotions and a REASON to exist (and somewhat less twirling and chasing).

To The Wonder feels exactly like an Alzheimer patient musing on a long past relationship, and you are struggling to understand the stream of thought that is unaware of your need for information: "Wait, slow down how did they meet?  No I don't need to hear about how she spun or how you chased after her, what was he mad about?  Yes, sunsets are very nice but, oh, no don't skip ahead, wait, huh?  How much later, with who?  Who are you talking about now???"  Just memories of the beauty and the ugly and the spinning, the god damned twirling is all that remains in the minds eye.

4 No Script No Shoes No Service out of 10 (BAD)

The Tree of Life (2011)

The Tree of Life (PG-13)

"When the bough breaks.."

It's evolution, nature, spirituality, brothers, parents, spouses, death, life, space, trees, henway, pretentiousness, dinos, sons and sun. It's imperfect; 2001 without the SciFi. It's a hauntingly beautiful story about a simple Texas family told in pictures that fly by for tens of minutes with only the barest of human voices. A masterpiece of cinematic art, it will evoke emotions in you. Which emotions are those? That's entirely up to you. 

8 heavenly bodies out of 10 (GOOD)