Knight of Cups Movie Review

Knight of Cups (2015)

Rent Knight of Cups on Amazon Video (paid link)
Written by: Terrence Malick
Directed by: Terrence Malick
Starring: Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Natalie Portman, Antonio Banderas, Teresa Palmer, Imogen Poots
Rated: R
Watch the trailer

Plot
A writer explores the depths of Los Angeles and Las Vegas with six different women.

Verdict
This is something many won't like because it's difficult to categorize. It's not a movie, it's a collection of images set to music. I watched it for two hours, and while I'm familiar with Malick's work, I still have a difficult time telling you what this movie is. The plot summary makes it seem much more coherent than it is. Despite the loose narrative, it's mesmerizing. There is a distinct craft in creating this expressionist movie and the end result not being terribly bad.
It depends.

Review
The first Malick film I saw was The New World (2005), and I did not like it on the first viewing. The second time, I was mesmerized. It was a fusion of story, nature, and documentary. It was one of, if not the first movies I saw that was art, and it became my new favorite movie.

I've seen all of Malick's movies, and I liked his previous film To the Wonder (2012). It felt like a natural progression of his style, but I completely understand why many didn't like it. It was cerebral, minimalist, and experimental, but above all it was visual. You didn't see the story, you experienced the after effects of events. Memories and events reach the screen as they pop into a character's head. This is what I expected from Knight of Cups and it's what I got.

The movie was in post-production for two years, which is an unusually long time. That might be explained by the fact that there was no script. Christian Bale had no idea what he'd be doing on any given day of filming or what the movie was even about. All of the scenes were improvised. He and Natalie Portman spent more time recording voice over than their scenes.

Knight of Cups - It's a little too much Malick.

Bale's lines in voice over directly quote the 1678 Christian allegory The Pilgrim's Progress. While it may take inspiration from the allegory, the structure is so loose it's difficult to make direct connections.

The title refers to the tarot card. From wikipedia, if the knight of cups is upright, it represents romantic change and new excitements. It can mean invitations, opportunities, and offers. The Knight of Cups is a bringer of ideas, opportunities and offers. He is constantly bored, and in constant need of stimulation, but also artistic and refined. He represents a person who is amiable, intelligent, and full of high principles, but a dreamer who can be easily persuaded or discouraged.Reversed, the card represents unreliability and recklessness. It indicates fraud, false promises and trickery. It represents a person who has trouble discerning when and where the truth ends and lies begin.

This applies to the film, though I can't quite piece it all together.
This is the same style as To the Wonder. Scenes are images of characters twirling on screen. It's stream of consciousness caught on film with voice over conveying thoughts.

This is anything but a typical movie. While there's so little dialog, you still know whats going on. You know Bale is wandering aimlessly, and the way this is filmed conveys his disconnect with the world and people. He's searching.

It seems arbitrary, but if the movie truly was it would make no sense. A lot of craft has gone into this, but the simple summary is that Christian Bale slowly walks through a two hour movie. It's engrossing in a sense, but I can't help but long for something to happen. I want something that ties all of these images together at the end. I want more.

This movie is the result of stripping a story of structure and of narrative progression. Distill it to just a few images of emotions and interactions, take away all dialog, save for just a few lines and words, but provide a musical score that plays throughout. That is this movie, though it is not a movie in any conventional sense. Malick himself has said he prefers actors don't speak.

If I hadn't seen To the Wonder, I would be more likely to recommend this. It's a type of film experience you need at least once, but unfortunately not twice. To the Wonder makes better use of this style with a story that fits better.
Malick filmed this back to back with Weightless which could come out next year... or later. Who knows. I hope it isn't more of the same. It was renamed and released in 2017 as Song to Song.