His dream-like filming style certainly divides people, and yet always intrigues. Only The Thin Red Line managed to completely overwhelm me. I was impressed with The New World. But for the rest, they are very interesting but not always hitting the right notes for me.
In Knight Of Cups, the stellar cast and beautiful looking trailer definitely got me interested and wanting to see this on the big screen despite the mainly negative reviews for it.
It is really to hard sum up this one. I must mention that apparently the actors began with no script. They just started shooting and see what happens. I can see why. It does not seem to have a structure. But more like a collection of memories and moments. It actually ended up being a fascinating watch.
It shows Los Angeles and Les Vegas in an interesting and lovely way. While you see the rich constantly go to parties and spending stupid amounts on pointless things. You see are main character in the middle of it searching for himself and wandering about like he is in that hazy place between awake and dreaming.
The second half can get a bit long as it is more of the same and there is only so much you can take of it.
Despite it looking disjointed,the images are so strong and gorgeous to look at. It might look good as something to put on in the background at a party for creative people. That is most certainly not an insult. I just feel that its strongest point is just looking at it.
I was pleased to see that after watching it, the cinematography was done by Emmanuel Lubezki who has won the Oscar for Best Cinematography for the last three years. I love his work, he is the best cinematographer around, and I can see why I liked watching the images on screen.
There is not much to talk about the performances. There is little on-screen dialogue to talk about. Like with most Malick films, it is all about the thoughts of the characters that we can hear rather than what they are actually saying. Christian Bale seemed the right choice for me as the leading character. His presence seems to fit the tone of the film. There was also a nice cameo from Antonio Banderas.
The score is very dreamy as well and fits into what you are seeing perfectly. It is almost like watching a live-action version of Fantasia. But not as dramatic.
I think one word to sump up this film would be poetic. It felt like a 2-hour meditation class. If you can lose, absorb and immerse yourself into it. Then it can feel like an outer-body experience. Try not to get into it to hard. Just let yourself go.
A lot of people will see this as pretentious nonsense, especially if you are not 'au feit' with Malick's style of film-making. But if you are always interested to see what he comes up with despite not always being won over by it. Then I think it is worth a try.
Rating: 7/10
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