Song to Song
Directed by: Terrence Malick
Written by: Terrence Malick
Starring: Rooney Mara, Ryan Gosling, Michael Fassbender, Natalie Portman, Cate Blanchett, Lykke Li, Bérénice Marlohe, Patti Smith, Holly Hunter, Iggy Pop, Val Kilmer
Drama/Music/Romance - 129 min Reviewed by Charlie Juhl on 22 Mar 2017
Written by: Terrence Malick
Starring: Rooney Mara, Ryan Gosling, Michael Fassbender, Natalie Portman, Cate Blanchett, Lykke Li, Bérénice Marlohe, Patti Smith, Holly Hunter, Iggy Pop, Val Kilmer
Drama/Music/Romance - 129 min Reviewed by Charlie Juhl on 22 Mar 2017
In his new film Knight of Cups 2, I mean Song to Song, director Terrence Malick sticks to his M.O. from his last three films and edits what could possibly be an intriguing troubled romantic quadrangle into an incoherent pile of frustrating nonsense. My idea of a good time at the theater is not to play ‘guess the chronology’ for over two hours while the actors’ voiceovers trip over the dialogue they obviously made up on the spot. Most of us in the theater recognized what we were about to endure; we nervously laughed and chided each other to enjoy the incomprehensible maze to come. Malick does not disappoint.
He almost had me though. Song to Song’s first hour is borderline rational. There are clearly defined characters and we establish who is sleeping with whom, who is cheating on that other person, etc… Then Song to Song turns into Knight of Cups and takes a nosedive into oblivion. Unlike Knight of Cups, we hear the protagonists speak in actual declarative sentences, but their voiceovers are maddening. How many times must Rooney Mara (Lion) ask herself, “Who am I?” and whisper variations of, “I love the pain; it feels like life” and “I played with the fire of life.” Those are verbatim.
He almost had me though. Song to Song’s first hour is borderline rational. There are clearly defined characters and we establish who is sleeping with whom, who is cheating on that other person, etc… Then Song to Song turns into Knight of Cups and takes a nosedive into oblivion. Unlike Knight of Cups, we hear the protagonists speak in actual declarative sentences, but their voiceovers are maddening. How many times must Rooney Mara (Lion) ask herself, “Who am I?” and whisper variations of, “I love the pain; it feels like life” and “I played with the fire of life.” Those are verbatim.
Terrence Malick is not unfamiliar with structured narratives. His first film, Badlands (1973), tells a story with a beginning, a middle, and an end. He somewhat recently did that again with The New World (2005). However, ever since his mostly-acclaimed experiment with The Tree of Life (2011), Malick has not stopped experimenting with random cuts, the impenetrable voiceovers, and making sure at least 25% of the audience vacates the theater early. Allegedly, Malick shot over eight hours worth of footage and only ‘found’ the movie in the editing room. His Knight of Cups star, Christian Bale, was completely cut out while Val Kilmer, who appears for a confusing 2.5 seconds, receives major billing.
Set in Austin, Texas in and around its bustling music scene, our lead characters are supposedly all involved in music even though we hardly ever see them being musical. Michael Fassbender (The Light Between Oceans) is a music producer who wants Ryan Gosling (La La Land) to take a break from performing live and record an album. Rooney Mara, allegedly a songwriter even though we never see her write anything, is sleeping with both men and plays some guitar behind Patti Smith. Fassbender meets financially-strapped waitress Natalie Portman (Jackie) and marries her. Portman becomes depressed and distraught at Fassbender’s increasing drug habit and penchant for group sex. I only use the actor’s names here because I didn’t learn their character names until researching the plot the next day.
Song to Song might as well be a Knight of Cups sequel. The characters find the most quirky, out of the way places to frolic and philosophize about existence: under the interstate, amongst rock formations, and in endless empty, glamorous apartments and cavernous houses. Three-time Oscar winner Emmanuel Lubezki (The Revenant) twirls in circles with a shaky cam technique and zooms in for extended periods with the uncomfortable close-up. The close-ups are usually of Rooney Mara crying again about sleeping with Fassbender, her former boss and potential ticket to success in the biz, and with Gosling, the real musician with a heart of gold. Mara also has a lesbian relationship later on but that appears to be just a rebound thing.
Song to Song pisses me off more than Knight of Cups because there is an interesting plot scattered jigsaw style in here. Why Malick insists on tearing it apart in an avant-garde style he has already beat to death is one of contemporary cinema’s great mysteries. The sequence between Natalie Portman and Michael Fassbender as they meet, get to know one another, and get married is as good as anything Malick has ever done, but when Rooney Mara jumps back in with her “fire of life” business, any and all forward momentum shatters. Perhaps 60% of the film is just any two of these characters paired off at any given time rubbing up against each other: Fassbender and Rooney, Fassbender and Portman, Gosling and Rooney, Rooney and her lesbian fling, Fassbender and a series of escorts. Malick hit the repeat button and now all of his films look the same and baffle the same. Wake me up he snaps out of it.
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