Terrence Malick's To The Wonder is a poetic film which sets out to dissect the ideal of love in a lyrical and profound way. The story focuses on Marina and Neil, who meet in France and move to Oklahoma to start a life together. Marina, being from France, moves across the world to be with Neil but soon after they move in with each other problems arise. One thing that is always expected with a Malick film is beautiful visuals and To The Wonder certainly doesn't disappoint. Please go see this in the theater and not on demand as this is the type of film that must be experienced on the biggest screen possible. The film is practically without dialogue, outside of voice-over which comes primarily from Marina's character, with Malick once again showing how well he can tell a story with visuals instead of the lazy tactic of using the written word. Through Malick's staging and visual design we are given insights into these characters, seeing their happiness, doubts, anger, etc. in a very raw and emotional way. I would even go as far as to call this film visual poetry, an exploration of love in all of its forms. Malick wants to understand this intangible feeling of love - why we have it, why we lose it, and how it is a part of our soul. He doesn't have answers to these questions, because no one does, but the exploring such a theme is a emotionally taxing and fascinating experience. While Malick doesn't point the blame towards either of his central characters this is clearly Marina's story and Olga Kurylenko does a great job. I'm not entirely sure Javier Bardem's character is necessary at all to the story but perhaps he represents the more tragic side of love lost to our own mortality. In a way Malick's To The Wonder reminded me of Zulawki's My Nights Are More Beautiful Than Your Days in that they both examine love. Terrence Malick's To The Wonder is certainly not a film for everyone but I found it fascinating to watch such a great filmmaker explore the meaning of love. 8.5/10
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorLove of all things cinema brought me here. Archives
June 2023
|