Review of Knight of Cups (2015) by A D — 01 Dec 2015

A unique existential examination of Hollywood excess, materialism and humanity's growing detachment from nature told through what may be considered a pretentious showreel. Now during the first half of the film I merely viewed this film as just a showreel of Emmanuel Lubezki's stunning cinematography with bland characters and an unexplained narrative, but as the film went on I began to see the narrative in an alternative light.

It was from this that I began to view the narrative as a story of man, Christian Bale, who suffers an existential crisis and begins to understand the extent to which materialism and excess have become prominent in the daily lives of those involved in Hollywood.

It is from this that he realises of how humanity has become so complex that they can no longer find joy in nature and the smaller things without resolving to indulging excessively and that he seeks to share his newly found perspective of the world with others, who often refuse his proposal.

Knight of Cups is hands down a significant improvement for Malick over his previous work, 2012's To The Wonder, as it explores the excessive nature of Hollywood in a clever way, given how the film itself is an art film which goes against the conventions of mainstream cinema, and that it requires the audience to make meaning from the images displayed on screen.

While the film is definitely hard to swallow for those who prefer mainstream cinema it is a rather intuitive art film that requires the audience to delve into their own interpretations of what is again a wonderful collaboration between Malick and Lubezki.