To the Wonder

After Mallick's THE TREE OF LIFE it would be difficult to follow with a film that even came close to the deep spiritual experience that TREE can offer to viewers who are open to exploring its depths. TO THE WONDER is beautiful to watch and the music is again used in a magnificent way. Both films are supposedly born out of the director's life experiences. TO THE WONDER reveals the missing spiritual elements in the life of a man unable to find peace, understanding and meaning to his existence. It's not enough to just have beautiful woman come into your life and the two actresses in TO THE WONDER are by every standard exceptionally lovely. The man in this films has no clue about the purpose of life. Is it to only have a season of great love and then when that reaches a high point and diminishes to move on? The disillusioned Priest in the film is easier to understand. It would be very difficult to walk among the day to day hardships of the people in his parish and keep a positive outlook on life. Like all of Mallick's films TO THE WONDER is understood more deeply with additional viewings but unlike THE TREE OF LIFE this film doesn't reward as deeply with additional viewings.

To the WonderRated R.Terrence Malick’s films are hard for most people to stay with because they do not follow the usual 3-act narrative of the typical film. Like his Tree of Life, this film will be confusing at times, the scenes, though beautifully photographed, seeming far too random. The stories, such as they are, deal with a young couple falling in and out of love and a compassionate priest going through what the ancient fathers called “the desert of the soul” as he struggles to feel the presence of God. There is very little dialogue among the characters, most of the words that we hear being the inner monologue of the characters as they wonder about existence and meaning. Best parts are the insights on love and commitment that we hear in snatches of the priest’s sermons.

Dreamlike and melancholy. Improvisational and naturalistic in a way unique to Terrence Malik. Deeply complex and even courageous (for a film in our present day) religious overtones. It's a dream, it's a story, it's a lament, it's a poem and it's a prayer. You'll either drink it in and be absorbed from the beginning or it'll strike you as a piece of arch cinematic noodling. I watched it over the course of several sittings -- it may be a little too much to fully appreciate or absorb in a single uninterrupted dose. It's certainly a film you have to flow with, often without any clear sense of where you are in either time or place. You'll know early on whether this is your cup of tea. If it is, Knight of Cups is a worthy companion.

brilliant insight to humanity; this is a film that gives us just enough narrative to show us that we do not live a life of narrative; but of experience, observation and feeling. I am sorry to see this film fall into an overall mediocre rating; it just goes to show how so many humans who bothered to view this film have lost touch with the very things that make up our life; much of which we simply ignore because it makes us too uncomfortable. This film is about seeking through doing; our very existence. So, if you want the I.T. film of the year where you will feel safe and predictable, don't watch it; but if you have ever taken a long walk in nature or traveled after deep loss or even triumph; then see it.

I wish there had been a little more of a storyline, a little background as to why these characters acted and felt, but still an interesting watch. My interpretation of it is that, even in love, one can feel alone. Or, even alone, one can feel love. Also, no one really deserves love, it's given without worthiness, or not given. Sometimes our actions have very little to do with it. And, sometimes our actions are a result of what is obvious but may not be spoken.

The first time I watched To the Wonder I was underwhelmed. The film appeared to verge on self-parody, with Terrence Malick's penchant for long silences, meditative voiceovers and random rambles by the protagonists making the film come off as offcuts from the directionless Tree of Life.The second time I watched it I found myself pulled in Malick's world. The cinematography is gorgeous, almost every scene painstakingly constructed, poignant and beautiful. The back-story of Javier Bardem's priest whose faith is tested daily by a life of solitude and service among the poor and suffering was both sad and inspiring.It's not an easy film. It subtly raises hard philosophical questions without providing easy answers, and it leaves you with a sense of unease as the final credits begin to roll.

If the director intended this movie to be representative of the dream life in which we think we live then job well done. If however it was done just for the sake of being avant garde then I'm at a loss. The description given of the movie being about a man torn between two women has very little to do with the actual story. It was more about four people yearning in different ways for a deep connection of love yet unable to find it in their relationships.