Song to Song (Terrence Malick)

[Idioteque Stalker]

https://thefilmstage.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Song-to-Song-poster-620x620.jpg

IMDB (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2062700/?ref_=nv_sr_1)

[Idioteque Stalker]

Oof. What used to be bold stylistic flourishes now seem like bad habits. It looks great and has moments of real poetry (the more distorted the soundtrack the better), but at this point I'm not so enamored with the direction to be down with such interminable sequences of soft touching, eye-gazing, and tender kisses. Time to take a break from Malick for a while.

[Stay Puft]

I'm surprised this still isn't anywhere in Toronto.

I will say, even I'm a bit wary of this aesthetic "trilogy" at this point. I kinda feel like I'm done with the film even though I haven't even seen it yet. It's still crazy to me that Malick produced three films so close to each other, in the same style (and an IMAX doc on top of all of that), when his output had been so infrequent before.

My mind has already turned to Radegund. That's the film I'm anticipating now. (I'll still catch this one whenever it opens here, obviously, but my expectations are certainly lowered.)

[Henry Gale]

I'm surprised this still isn't anywhere in Toronto.

"Exclusive engagement" starts this Friday, April 7th at Yonge & Dundas (or so said my friend's share Facebook post).


I will say, even I'm a bit wary of this aesthetic "trilogy" at this point. I kinda feel like I'm done with the film even though I haven't even seen it yet. It's still crazy to me that Malick produced three films so close to each other, in the same style (and an IMAX doc on top of all of that), when his output had been so infrequent before.

My mind has already turned to Radegund. That's the film I'm anticipating now. (I'll still catch this one whenever it opens here, obviously, but my expectations are certainly lowered.)

I'm not not with you here as I did love To the Wonder (while being the least jazzed by Knight of Cups out of everything he's ever done) but I will admit the luster of new Malick (and especially in consistently very aesthetically similar fashion) has definitely waned with the constant flow of projects that are very similar in (still gorgeous) look and feel.

Having said that, and even despite many of the reviews, I still really want to see it. I even just saw the trailer before La La Land the other night and absolutely couldn't say no to living in that world for a couple of hours, even just for the aesthetic, but really it's a shame when Malick needs any caveats.

[Stay Puft]

Well, I suppose this is a nice "trilogy of disconnection" that Malick has produced here (with To the Wonder and Knight of Cups being the first two), a trilogy with many similarities both thematic and aesthetic. After Song to Song, however, I'm certainly relieved that this chapter of his work has concluded, as each entry has produced significantly more diminishing returns. This is still a mild yay, for all the soulful beauty Malick is still able to muster, but this is also the worst film Malick has produced to date. And I'm surprised that my chief complaint with this film, of all possible complaints, is that... it has too much plot. And so much of it is dull and shopworn, given the subject matter (love triangles, the music industry). The entire middle section with the record deal contract and everything that occurs between Cook and Faye, and BV's growing jealousy and insecurity... it almost put me to sleep. The stuff that comes after, the focus on longing and drifting and ennui, and especially the way BV and Faye confront images of themselves in their parents, family, and each other... that's the good stuff, that's what the movie needed to focus more on. There are otherwise too many characters, many of whom barely get enough screen time to make an impression, and that hurts a lot of the subplots. Some of it just feels dramatically unfocused. The entire subplot with Natalie Portman's character is a swing and a miss. I've never seen Malick whiff so hard in his career. And Cook basically disappears from the movie after that, so what gives? Not sure I feel the ending, either. I was half expecting LOVE to fly out of the screen ala Murnau's Faust (not to mention the lesbian subplot and how that figures back into the main plot, which again... yeah, not sure how I felt about that). There's just... wow, there's too much fucking plot in this thing.

This makes it sound like I hated it but of course I didn't. Pass the kool-aid, I'm always thirsty. I could really use that Radegund palate cleanser right about now, though.