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This image released by Broad Green Pictures shows Christian Bale in a scene from "Knight of Cups."
Melinda Sue Gordon/AP PHOTO
Lamb: Malick's improvised "Knight of Cups" offers beautiful artistry in characters and cinematography
ALEX LAMB
@Lambcannon
On a surface level, "Knight of Cups" plays out as little more than existential, self-important and insubstantial — yet very stylish — visual poetry. The inactive protagonist aimlessly wanders from one beautiful woman to another in 90 percent voice narration. He follows pleasure and temptation through glitzy Hollywood parties, beautiful, open landscapes and evocative Los Angeles streets and architecture.
Visionary director Terrence Malick reached a creative and emotional zenith with "The Tree of Life," then quickly followed it with his weakest film, the boring.
"To the Wonder." He walks a thin line between the brilliance and relatability of the former and the pretentious shallowness of the latter in "Knight of Cups."
If you attentively immerse yourself in Malick's abstract rumination on LA indulgence and the all-consuming hedonism ruling over the land there still won't be a real story, nor a compelling main character. But wayward screenwriter Rick (Christian Bale) becomes a simple conduit for viewers to step outside themselves and insightfully reflect on their own intoxicating desires.
There's very little characterization or personality to Rick, and he says few words out loud during the
film. His occasional narration isn't terribly interesting either, but his go-with-the-flow attitude and lack of defining qualities are exactly what allow viewers to paint themselves onto his blank canvas and relate the colorful characters and situations he encounters to their own experiences.
The only blissance of narrative comes from a fa-
Imogen Poots, Natalie Portman, Cate Blanchett and more offer different kinds of allure and perspective as the engaging women in Rick's life, while numerous actors show up briefly to enjoy themselves at parties or to give advice, notably Antonio Banderas, who muses about romantic variety.
to emotionally synthesize into a meaningful whole.
ble told in the beginning about a prince sent to find a pearl deep in the sea in a faraway land, but he loses his way and falls in with the locals, forgetting about his quest and where he came from. This serves as a key piece of information to understanding the film, a representation Rick's journey to Hollywood and the malaise of his current life.
Emmanuel Lubezki's jaw-dropping cinematography (as always) combined with the energetic stream-of-consciousness editing give lively images such as an aerial dancer bathed in neon light or the flashing lights on a crowd at a music festival, a transcendent, etheral wonder. Also key to that aesthetic achievement, is the wall-to-wall sound design, which seamlessly mixes waves crashing and jet engines roaring with the lush score for a powerfully captivating aural experience.
If you don't pay attention to the fable and how it sporadically returns through Rick's father (Brian Dennehy) and brother (Wes Bentley) — the family dynamic being the most authentic bit of character to Rick — the loose archetypal elements within "Knight of Cups" may feel too concise and disconnected to be able
Malick didn't have a script for the film and all the scenes were improvised, which definitely
shines through and feels akin to a collage made to express an idea, assembled from whatever magazine was available to cut up. Theauteur explores impure love's titillating but ultimately unfulfilling grasp, a depiction of the quest for flesh, financial freedom and constant fun, with a dizzying kind of artistry to complement the thematic sense of losing one's greater purpose in life. Some viewers will leave "Knight of Cups" and think Malick has lost his sense of what makes for an actual film, but there's no denying his sense as an artist continues to expand.
3. 5 out of 4 Stars
- Edited by Cele Fryer