Knight of Cups

In Terrence Malick’s latest…thing, he turns his abstract eye on Hollywood and its hollow disposition.  A man (Christian Bale (Shaft (2000)), movie producer I’m guessing, floats from one relationship to another because that’s just what he does.  What is it really all about and mean?  I haven’t a fuckin’ clue.  But that’s sorta why I like Malick’s films so much.  You get whatever you want out of them.  Wanna feel enlightened, depressed, think the characters are going on an eloquent journey, think everyone’s drifting aimlessly?  It’s all up for interpretation.  You can dig deep to figure out the meaning behind everything or you can take what’s presented on the surface (honestly this is mostly the approach I take) and still get something out of the experience either way.

What makes Malick’s pictures fascinating is that it’s a total experiment.  Every actor who’s worked with him describes the shoot like nothing they’ve ever done before.  It’s almost a workshop where the interaction itself and being “in the moment” are more important than what’s on the page.  Knight of Cups went to the extreme though because there was no script and the actors didn’t even know what the movie was about.  I mean shit, this is beyond improvisation where at least you have an idea of what you’re going for or an end goal that you need to achieve.  For this one it was totally wide open.  Really with the exception of the narration, which you could argue is superfluous, it’s essentially a wacky silent picture (however the score is gorgeous by the way).

It’s amazing how coherent Malick’s movies come out in general but this one is a goddamn miracle.  His movies are ballsy as shit and it seems that his balls have only grown bigger over the years.  Each one feels like they’re getting farther and farther from any sort of narrative and simply becoming a series of images that loosely tie together.

In the past Malick has fetishized natural beauty with endless pictures of grass, beaches, mountains, trees, wind, humans, etc.  But with this one he finally comes around to man-made wonders like skyscrapers, casinos, vibrant lighting, art, fountains, mansions, etc.  And since he has such a mixture of both natural and man-made images (including many unflattering shots of human civilization like abandoned lots and gaudy malls) I don’t get the impression that he’s looking down on the man-made stuff.  There seems to be equal amazement and even respect at what we have created for ourselves to live and interact with.

On paper the idea for this picture sounds like it shouldn’t work at all but for me it mostly does.  I liked it better than To the Wonder and The Tree of Life (the outer space shit notwithstanding (I can’t fuckin’ wait for The Voyage of Time which is supposed to be 90 mins of just that)).  This is a different beast than those two though.  I think the narrative is more open to interpretation and there’s pretty much no skeletal structure for “scenes” to hang on.  Plus this is one of the most visually stunning films I’ve ever seen and that plays a more important role here because the storytelling is more optical than in previous works.

Malick’s style of filmmaking is gonna rub a lot, and I mean a helluva lot, of people the wrong way.  I totally get that.  This is not for everyone.  Actually I don’t know who this is supposed to be for.  It truly feels like Malick makes these movies for himself alone and if someone else happens to dig it then it’s a happy accident.  It’s so weird because he’s like a mythical figure in the film world, like he doesn’t even exist.  You never see him, you never hear from him.  He just makes these pieces and moves on to the next project, never paying any mind.

But folks out there astonishingly keep giving him money to make his pictures and huge actors clamor to work with him.  It’s pretty damn strange how high profile his shit is considering how abstruse it is.  I know I’m not alone in appreciating the man’s work but it’s very surprising how not alone I am.

Alright, I’ll make a deal with you Terry, if you keep making ‘em I’ll keep watching ‘em.