Post Tenebras Lux and TO THE WONDER were my favorite films at Toronto's Festival in 2012. The plot description you get here on IMDb is as good as I could do so I won't bother with that. This film is like a cross between Malick and Lynch. It's beautiful, dark, bizarre and dreamy... and non-linear to add to the cryptic puzzle. Like Malick, the beautiful shots are about enough to hook you in... assuming you know how to experience a movie, not just watch what a studio spoon feeds you. Like Lynch, the dark underbelly of humanity is lurking beneath in a surreal fashion. Subconscious here we come! My favorite place to be! By the way, Reygadas won Best Director at Cannes for this. Now I hope I've added to the mystery, and didn't solve any of it!
Reviews
2 Reviews
To the Wonder
(2012)
Flashes of memory, before %@^* passes on....
26 April 2013
For fans of Malick and visual poetry only! One of my favorite things about to the wonder IS the fact that I cant connect or relate to the characters. I like how it feels like flashes of memory. I like that we never hear anyones name. I like how we float above the characters and swoop in when Malick wants us to. its just another way to tell a story. Malick and everyone else has done it the other way many times. I can imagine just fine what back story Malick would have given these characters... its no big deal... you don't need it every time. A lot of the people who loved the tree of life, which by the way is one of the best 5 movies ever, couldn't find anything to hold onto with this one. I guess we've found those peoples limits for this type of story telling. I guess people think if there's not more structure or character development that the movies too easy to make, or it can be faked or something. I guess I see this is just the next level of needing to be spoon fed something, just like how Hollywood films spoon feed you most of the time. We've found a cut off point within art house fans. TTOL to TTW for some is like Mulholland Dr. to INLAND EMPIRE for Lynch fans. Most just couldn't go further down the bunny hole because it looks like its mocking itself or is forced or something. Neither is true, all four of these movies are perfect. All Im saying is I want to see the boundaries of cinema get stretched and thats what this is. this is definitely something you experience on a different level than TTOL. Its more of a dreamy/memory type thing so you have to find the creativity and art in that world... almost like surrealism, but something different. Maybe more people just like the old Malick. Maybe the new Malick is better. Maybe this film is flashes of memory Malick has since this movies based on a time in his own life. I hope Malick stays on this path and goes further if he can somehow.
Tell Your Friends