To The Wonder (2013)

Title: To the Wonder (2012)

Director: Terrence Malick

Cast: Ben Affleck, Olga Kurylenko, Javier Bardem, Rachel McAdams

Certain directors out there make films that are an experience to watch, these films don’t subscribe to any ideas of what a film should be, these types of films are made to be taken in without any expectations; you simply have to experience them. Films like these lean more towards the artistic, the ‘avante garde’, the experimental. I’m talking about guys like David Lynch, Werner Herzog or Andrei Tarkovsky, all directors, like Malick, who will show you that the world is beautiful and strange enough on its own, without the aid of special effects. These guys don’t make films with box office numbers in mind ; if their movies make money, it’s a by-product of the thing, what they care most about is making a film that will linger on after you watch it, a film that will stir your emotions; films that will leave a lasting impression on you. I urge you to watch films by these directors, you can rest assured they’ll leave a mark on your psyche and your emotions, because directors like these care most about making you feel while commenting on the little intricacies of the human condition.

The thing with directors like these is that depending on your appreciation/tolerance for art and style, you’ll either love their films or hate them. I fall under the ‘I freaking love Terrence Malick’ category. Why? Well, what can I say, the guy makes films that move me, that speak to me even when there is no dialog being spoken, which by the way is a signature stamp on Malick films; images take over and speak. “A picture can say more than a thousand words” is a phrase that comes to mind when I watch a Malick film; what I love about the beautiful vistas and landscapes that Malick catches with his lenses is that they speak about that beauty of nature that leaves us speechless; you know how sometimes you’ll look at a spectacular sunset, or bask in the beauty of nature and you can’t help but be blown away by the magnificence of it all? About how beautiful it all is? That’s what To the Wonder is largely about, a love letter to nature and the beauty of life, which is in large part what TheTree of Life (2011), Malick’s previous film, was all about as well. But while The Tree of Life focused entirely on the magnificence of life, To the Wonder dives more into themes of relationships and faith. It is both things, a love letter to life and an exploration of the ins and outs of love.

On this film we meet Neil (Affleck) and Marina (Kurylenko) precisely at the moment when they have started to fall in love with each other, you know, those moments when physical attraction is the strongest and people can’t seem to keep their hands to themselves? When the smallest of caresses means a world, that time of the relationship when you feel you’re walking on air, ah, the beauty of the beginning. The film is amazing in that it focuses on those little details that demonstrate that these two individuals are really into each other, the looks, the caresses. But again, Malick doesn’t focus so much on dialog, it’s not what these characters say but what they do that lets us know what is going on. We do hear inner monologue as the characters whisper to themselves how they are feeling, so be ready for a film that doesn’t have people saying “I love you” or “I trust you”; nope, one this movie characters show these things with their actions towards each other. For example, in the film, Affleck has a fling with Rachel McAdams and she’s a horse wrangler, a cow girl every step of the way; she’s fallen deeply in love with Affleck, but he doesn’t want to settle down. She wants to marry him and she’s trying to sort of reel him into it, the same way she would wrangle her untamable wild horses. All a visual allegory to how Affleck’s character doesn’t want to get tied down by marriage. Malick does this type of allegorical thing with the images all throughout.

I’ve always thought that relationships, no matter how strong the bond is at first, have an expiration date to them. I am of the opinion that nothing lasts “forever”, to me everything changes, which is why I don’t believe in marriage. Why get tied down to someone legally, when eventually both grow tired of each other? Everything starts out fine and dandy, but around the four to five year mark you’ll start annoying the hell out of each other to the point where one can’t stand being with the other. But I digress, I'm sure marriage works for some, but what I have seen in this world, it rarely does. The film targets those first blissful moments of the beginning of a relationship and those awful moments when the magic is gone and you’re left with nothing but hatred and contempt for each other.  There is a scene in which Affleck is trying to hug and caress his wife and she pushes him away, a scene in which we see that obviously, the love is gone. Why do people forget why they fell in love with each other? Why do we forget what made it all work in the first place? Then there’s the issue of freedom, which you kind of loose once you are entangled with someone. In the film, Marina is a free spirit, always dancing and basking in the beauty of nature while Affleck is detached, quiet and introspective. In one particular scene, Marina’s best friend comes from France and tells her to go back to being the free spirit that she is, to go back to France and feel alive! In this scene Malick alludes to how Marina’s relationship to Affleck has degenerated to the point where the relationship sucked the vitality out of her. She’s no longer the crazy, free spirited being she once was. So is being with somebody “forever and ever” a good thing for you, or will it end up being a soul sucking experience? You be the judge; I’m sure there’s such a thing as eternal love for another person, it’s just so damn rare. But anyhow, these are the themes the film explores in regards to relationships.

Through the character of Father Quintana; Malick explores issues of faith. It’s interesting because in the film Quintana is a person whom people look up to as a spiritual leader, yet secretly, he doubts the existence of god. It’s not that he doesn’t believe in God, it’s just that he’s never had any real proof of his existence, he wants to believe but has no physical or empirical evidence to do so. This is something that happens to people who start to question faith; secretly in your mind you tell yourself it’s all feeling like a bunch of bull, but you don’t dare say it out loud for fear that someone might discover you are beginning to doubt God. In Father Quintana’s case, his doubt is starting to show on his face; so much so that his own parishioners begin to tell him he doesn’t look happy. His doubts are so strong, he feels his life as a preacher is a lie. Yet while the film does question the existence of God, at the same time it’s an ode to the wonder of the world, the beauty of nature and the planet which is something real and undeniable. There are many scenes in which the camera simply focuses on the beauty of a breathtaking landscape or some curious thing that happens in the world, like the wind blowing through the trees, or the water forming odd shapes on the sand. The way I see it, Malick sees the world the way I see it, as a constant wonder, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant the event, according to this film, there’s beauty in everything and Malick wants you to see that. Without a doubt, one of the most beautiful looking films of the year.

Rating: 5 out of 5

The Tree of Life (2011)

Title: The Tree of Life (2011)

Director: Terrence Malick

Cast: Brad Pitt, Sean Penn, Jessica Chastain

Review:

A big thank you goes out directly to Terrence Malick, the director of The Tree of Life for making this amazing film. This is the kind of cinema that rekindles my love for film. You know how sometimes you burn out from watching bad films? How sometimes so many bad films make their way into your mind that you kind of loose hope of ever watching a film that really truly matters? A film that really truly gets to you? Well, The Tree of Life fixed all that for me. Here’s a film that is so truthful, so genuine, so full of love for life that anyone who watches it will be moved by it somehow, someway. The Tree of Life felt as if Terrence Malick took all his life experiences, everything he has ever lived and experienced, thought, and wondered and siphoned it into this one film. This is the brainchild of a lifetime of accumulated experiences. You can tell this film comes from a mature, intelligent mind that’s pondered deeply into the great mysteries of life and returned with this amazing film.

The Tree of Life doesn’t have that rushed quality that most commercial films posses. You know, where you can tell the film was made quickly in order to meet a Summer Blockbuster Season deadline. Nope, this is a film that has been festering in the mind of its creators for a while. Actually, if we’re going to be getting down to specifics, this film has been in Malick’s mind for the longest time, since way back in the days where the project was called 'Q'. Because of the risky nature of a film of this caliber, unsure producers caused the project to continually change actors and distributors since its very beginning. But filming finally started in 2008 and kept on going through the years, until recently when it was finally released in 2011! It certainly has that feel of a film that was well thought out and planned. Terrence Malick obviously took special care on this one. You can tell it was a film made with true love, true devotion for film and what you can say and transmit through it. This film comes from a filmmaker who fully recognizes the power of films. David Lynch wrote a book called “Catching the Big Fish: Meditation, Consciousness and Creativity” in which among other things he talks about how ideas are like fish in a pond. The deeper you dive into the pond, the more exotic the fish you will find. It seems to me like Terrence Malick dove really deep into his pond of ideas and returned with a really exotic, moving, emotional film.

The Tree of Life is brimming with such tender moments, moments that you can just tell came from a personal childhood memory, or some true life experience that the filmmaker had. This is the kind of film where as you watch it you will constantly say things like “I remember that”, “I remember going through that” or “That happened to me when I was a kid!” I know I did. It will have you remembering beautiful moments from your childhood that you had completely forgotten about. But at the same time, like in life, it has bittersweet moments. As all of us who are alive can testify, life can change from happy to sad in the blink of an eye. I loved how the film portrayed that aspect of life in a realistic way, not as a fairytale. Let’s face it, film can sometimes be guilty of overusing happiness. Sadness and tragedy are just as much a part of the experience as everything else. The Tree of Life covers all these aspects of life, the happy and the sad. It goes from being born, to seeing your baby brother arrive for the first time from the hospital. From holding your son for the first time in your hands, to showing him how to take his first steps. To all these moments you have when you are a kid, like playing hide and go seek or being mischievous with your friends, daring each other to do “bad things”. Sibling rivalries, hatred towards parents…simply put, this is a film that encompasses a very wide range of themes.

Family life gets its fare share of screen time because at its core this is a film that explores family dynamics and it explores them from all angles. From the angle of the father, the son, the mother, the brothers, they all get their say in this picture. The portrayal of the American family in this film is very 1950’s, meaning the father is the bread winner, the mother is the housekeeper. And they all go to church on Sundays and pray before they go to bed. The dynamic between husband and wife reminded me a lot of the type of situation we saw in Sam Mendez’s Revolutionary Road (2008), a film that also explored that conundrum of the housewife with no say so. In The Tree of Life, the housewife is played by Jessica Chastain in the role of Mrs. O’Brien. She says very little in the film during the scenes that take place in the household, yet it’s her thoughts we hear most of the time. The loving nature of the female, the nurturer, the mother is what we hear the most. Rarely do we hear Mr. O’Brien’s thoughts. Mr. O’Brien, played by Brad Pitt is portrayed as half harsh man, half loving father/husband. He is a man carved the old fashioned way where men have the last and only say so in matters and the woman children are there to follow the father/husband’s lead in life. I found it interesting that it’s the love of the mother which shines through most of the film; from beginning to the very end, it is her voice that guides us through. 

Another theme that the film constantly addresses is the proverbial big question: is god real? Does he exist? If he exists, then where is he? Is he really out there? And if he is out there, then why does he allow bad things to happen? Characters say things like “I want to know what you know, see what you see” while questioning the existence of God. It’s not every movie that dares to ask these questions so openly; it is a delicate theme after all. But Malick addresses these themes with such sincerity and humility, that it doesn’t feel like slandering, or even preaching. These are just logical questions that pop up in all our minds at one point or another. I liked how when characters ask these questions, they do so in the privacy of their minds, in their private thoughts. And even when these questions are being asked inside of their heads; we hear the questions in a whisper. I guess that’s Malick’s way of letting the viewer know the reverence given to these ideas of a superior being who watches over all of us.

But ultimately, I felt as if Malick was portraying nature as the ultimate creative force in the universe, nature as God. And this was yet another reason why I loved this movie so much. I personally feel that the thing that’s worthiest of our worship or adoration is life itself. Nature is an awe inspiring thing, and Malick shows us that in this movie. At times, it felt like I was watching one of those BBC’s ‘Planet Earth’ documentaries which I love so much. These documentaries (much like Malick’s film) show us things about nature we thought we’d never see. Like Herzog in some of his films (Fitzcarraldo for example) Malick shows us places of earth that look alien to those of us who’ve never seen them. Those of us living in concrete jungles. This is yet another theme that the film puts in juxtaposition: that of nature vs. civilization or how I like to call it: Trees vs. Buildings. In the film, Sean Penn’s character looks down at the concrete jungle as he remembers fondly those days of he’s youth where he played in the backwoods of his suburban home. He looks at the buildings as if they were engulfing him, suffocating him. I loved this part of the film. Sean Penn represents the modern man who remembers being in contact with nature, who remembers a simpler life. Not a life filled with concrete, steal and glass. During these thoughtful moments he realizes that the world has gone to the greedy.

I couldn’t end this review without talking about the more “spaced out” moments of this film which are some of the most beautiful ones. Not a line of dialog is spoken during most of these scenes; the images are the ones that do most of the talking. During these scenes, visuals and music completely take over. I loved Malick’s exploration of the universe, trying to demonstrate how beautiful and vast and unexplored it is. How small we are in comparison the vastness of the universe. Its no wonder the film starts out with a text from the bible. The text is Job 38:4 in which God asks Job the following: “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? When the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for Joy?” I personally have a fascination with all things cosmic, for me, it is out there where the great mysteries of life lie and so I love films that talk about these things. It is inevitable that a film that “spaces out” the way this one does will be compared to Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey (1969) the mother of all spaced out movies. Same as Kubrick, Malick plays these scenes out with a feeling of grandeur and spectacle. Be ready for sequences that are composed of visuals and music alone for long periods of time. Some might find this boring, but in all honesty, I was mesmerized by them.

Ultimately, this is a very polarizing film. When I watched this one in theaters, the crowd watched the whole film in silence, and when it was over, some applauded (myself included) and some chuckled and laugh, as if they’ve just seen the stupidest movie they had ever seen. Whoever finds this movie to be a joke has to be made of stone. This is one of the most profound movie experiences you will have. It explores life and the meaning behind it, it’s a film that says that nature, and life and all its bitter sweetness are all here to be experienced and embraced by us all, and that in the end, the only thing that matters is love. How can you go wrong with that? The Tree of Life is a masterpiece, a visual tour de force meant to be experienced with someone you love by your side, be it a friend, family or the love of your life. As one of the characters says in the film: “The only way to be happy is to love. Unless you love, your life will flash by” What a lovely message to give. 

Rating: 5 out of 5