with the bold text in the example below:

Friday, May 24, 2013

To the Wonder by Terrence Malick, 2012 (R)



with Ben Affleck (Argo), Olga Kurylenko (Oblivion), Javier Bardem (Biutiful, Eat Pray Love), Rachel McAdams (The Vow, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, Midnight in Paris, Morning Glory), Charles Baker, Romina Mondello

To the Wonder tells the story of Marina (Kurylenko) and Neil (Affleck), who meet in France and move to Oklahoma to start a life together, where problems soon arise. While Marina makes the acquaintance of a priest and fellow exile (Bardem), who is struggling with his vocation, Neil renews a relationship with a childhood sweetheart, Jane (McAdams).

I tried with this one, I tried to watch it till the end, and like it. In vain. There were two enlightening moments held by the woman voice over, about being weak and therefor letting the other take the decision for oneself, and the priest voice over awakening to the love of god while the images documentary-style shows us the poorest, weakest, in a beautiful mystical experience. The Mont St Michel of the beginning is evocative, the symbolism is beautiful. Except for these moments, everything is cold, beautifully stock video style, telling a story of an unsatisfied couple stuck in their misery, boredom, and unfortunately, you cannot connect to the character, making the relationship truly annoying. It is as if you are contemplating from very far everything, and no emotion can come accross. Also, beside the two moments I was describing, the rest of the dialogue is small talks that are insignificant or a french woman voice-over who tries to be poetic but clearly is way too cliché and plain.

Watch trailer:

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