To the Wonder

— “To the Wonder”, Terrance Malick’s latest film, really is a very odd, amazing, and beautiful film. After the superb “Tree of Life,” I eagerly awaited the arrival of “To the Wonder” in Columbia and today was the day. This isn’t a film for the weak or timid viewer. I could try to describe the experience, but Jon Baskin has already described done a better job than I could—“to those of us who remain convinced by his art, Malick is working at a level so far beyond us that our aesthetic estimations can only seem petty in comparison to his vision…Did you think a film needed dialogue, a plot, particularized conflicts, identifiable characters? Malick’s films will compel you either to enforce your criteria, or to abandon them. It is as if, as with so many modern artworks, what is being asked of the viewer is not only appreciation but conversion.”

If you aren’t one of those who hated “Tree of Life” then prepare yourself for something equally ambitious but more intimate and less expansive, and operating even more beneath the surface.

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[2012. 112 min. Directed by Terrence Malick. Starring Ben Affleck, Olga Kurylenko, Javier Bardem, and Rachel McAdams.]
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