TO THE WONDER by Terence Malick 

Between Ben Affleck's unhappy statements and rumours of cold receptions at the film's Venice Biennale screening last year, it seemed the whole world had turned against Malick's new work. Rumours of full storylines involving other actors like Michael Sheen and Amanda Peet left on the cutting room floor, left many baffled. Yet, To the Wonder is every bit as majestic and compelling as his previous work, the celebrated film The Tree of Life.

 

Malick has developed a style that celebrates the universe and life in its entirety. His films have always been remarkable studies of characters and light, but with his last two, he has done something that very few have done. He has freed himself from conventionalities, rid himself of filmmaking boundaries, given himself artistic licence to cut big names out of the film in post production, and has achieved a serendipity that gives his themes room to stretch out and breathe.

 

Furthermore, with his last two works, he has particularly proved himself to be very well educated and sensible to universal and universally corrupted themes of love, human nature and religion, all of which are dealt with in To the Wonder. The film mostly takes place in Oklahoma, and chronicles the love story between a man (Ben Affleck) and a woman (Olga Kurylenko). But it is also a film about a priest struggling with his vocation. The two storylines run parallel, intertwining naturally and unfolding with great mystery.

 

It's surprising how well the plots go together. Comparing earthly and spiritual love points to a greater kind of love, upon which our very existance depends. And while we may ponder about the depth of the film's philosophical nature, we may also notice that the real poetic comparison that is portrayed on screen is that the mystery of god's existance is as deep and as infinite as the mystery of a loved one's thoughts.

 

We know this due to the narration, mostly taken over by Kurylenko and Bardem. They are the ones who ponder on the existance of the love they seek. Kurylenko's character does not understand whether her strong feeling for Affleck's character is reciprocated. This makes her conciously insecure, pleading to him in her thoughts to 'show her how to love him'. In the same way, Bardem's attempts at getting through to the higher being, whoever it may be, are often met by a definite silence.

 

As in The Tree of Life, Malick makes wide use of narration, often over dialogue that may have been spoken on set. This gives the film a though provoking energy that is often associated with essay documentary. But the spontaneity of the action and a wild and unpredictable kind of editing, which along with the photography is almost independent from its central subjects and their actions, seems to come the cinematic French Impressionism than never was, or was perhaps only seen in works by Resnais, particularly Last Year at Marienbad. Thus, we can almost conclude that To the Wonder, like The Tree of Life, is a unique sort of essay docufiction. But due to the look and freedom of the film, as well as a wish to define the universe and indulge himself in some of its darkest mysteries with great excitement of exploration and fascination, he may be the the creator of a film zeitgeist genre.

 

Yet to categorize it or sub-categorize seems almost unjust. As a matter of fact, all throughout we may be totally misled, as the true protagonist may well be the light, which Malick obsessively tries to capture. It is the light and its movements that orchestrates the shots and decides their length, rather than the characters themselves. The words they speak are meaningless, even the many languages they use are unnecessarily confusing compared to its radiance, its heat and its glorified beauty. The sun is a subject of its own, perhaps it is even the real main character, being at once a symbol of love and a symbol of creation.

 

To the Wonder is as emotionally charged as a sunrise or a sunset. By tying the stunning visuals to poetic and alienated narration, Malick challenges the viewer to personally identify with the story but also think about the theme of love in depth. This direct connection between filmmaker and audience creates a microcosm that resonates long after, in the final shot, Kurylenko's narration thanks the 'love that loves us'. The hope for the future is that Malick will keep making this brand of wonderful films, that look like the most wonderful snapshots of a lifetime; the character's lifetime and, at once, our very own lifetime.

 

Directed by - Terence Malick

Written by - Terence Malick

Starring - Ben Affleck, Olga Kurylenko, Rachel McAdams, Javier Bardem

Cinematography by - Emmanuel Lubezki

Edited by - A.J. Edwards, Keith Frasse, Shane Hazen, Christopher Roland, Mark Yoshikawa

2012, USA, Drama

112 mins

 

- Matt Micucci