Review of To the Wonder (2013) by Art S — 29 Mar 2014

Not a perfect film but one of those "minor" works that all great directors have in their oeuvres, works that still demonstrate their talent and individuality, and which may fill in some gaps for auteur theorists, but somehow the films don't quite succeed.

Terrence Malick's follow up to The Tree of Life is equally impressionistic and in some ways just as inaccessible. This is a film of beautiful images and sequences, with an astonishing use of light in all its forms (dappled, streaming, sparkling, taken during the magic hour or not).

There is little dialogue, although we sometimes overhear a phrase or two. Instead, we are kept at a distance as mere observers of Ben Affleck's relationship with Olga Kurylenko (and his brief affair with Rachel McAdams).

Nevertheless, we can easily piece together what happens in their lives, from Paris to Oklahoma, on again and off again. A subplot involving Catholic priest Javier Bardem who is possibly losing his faith (just as Ben and Olga struggle with theirs) doesn't quite gel with everything else but clues us in to the spiritual themes that Malick is working with (also evoked by his use of light and of nature's majesty).

So, even though everything doesn't cohere nicely, the brushstrokes here still paint a picture of beauty and, yes, wonder, at the availability of rich emotional experiences in this life.