To the Wonder

Cast of Characters:

Neil - Ben Affleck

Marina - Olga Kurylenko

Jane - Rachel McAdams

Father Quintana - Javier Bardem

Director - Terrence Malick

Screenplay - Terrence Malick

Rated R for some sexuality/nudity

      Since 1973, writer/director Terrence Malick has made just six feature films. That being said, those six films are some of the most beautifully shot and moving films ever made (His 1998 film The Thin Red Line deserved Best Picture over Shakespeare in Love at the 1999 Academy Awards... Yes, even over Saving Private Ryan too). Now in 2013, forty years since 1973's Badlands, Malick delivers his sixth feature film, To the Wonder.

      The story focuses on the interweaving lives of four individuals. Neil (Ben Affleck) and Marina (Olga Kurylenko) are a couple that fall madly in love with each other in France. Marina, a single mother of a 10 year old daughter, moves with Neil to Oklahoma where he works as an environmental inspector. Pressure from work builds up between the two slowly. Eventually it pulls Neil and Marina apart where he winds up reconnecting with Jane (Rachel McAdams), an old flame of his. Marina moves back to France with her daughter after her visa expires. 

      Father Quintana (Javier Bardem) is a priest out of Europe on vocation in Oklahoma. Despite still handling the concerns and needs of those within his Parish (Neil and Marina being two of them) as well as visiting prisoners, the homeless and ill, Quintana is experiencing his own crisis of faith. Naturally, as a priest, he lives by himself, alone and often questioning the God he serves as if He too was a former lover.

      The plot here is relatively minimal and to be honest, there's a number of scenes that go with very few if any lines of dialogue to where you think this possibly could've worked as a silent film. Either way, I loved this film. To start things off, once again Malick, along with cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki, prove why they are Oscar nominated talents. This is Oscar level direction and cinematography, and there wasn't a single shot within this film that wasn't a beauty to behold. All four performances are first rate. Affleck and Kurylenko are able to portray a couple - once madly in love - in a slowly deteriorating relationship while hardly having to say a word. Their body language in certain scenes at times is able to speak more to you than any written word of dialogue spoken by them. Rachel McAdams, who has recently been stuck in chick flick hell with such films like The Time Traveler's Wife and The Vow, gives one of her best performances. Javier Bardem, though, is the real standout here amongst the four. It's a truly moving performance of a man finding it difficult to lead his congregation when he's struggling with his own faith, seeking for help in a hushed narration that speaks incredible volume. Despite the well known cast, these are not "acting powerhouse" type performances. The moments that move you most are the quietest. Whether it's a husband's silent, angry stare in response to his wife's confession or a priest forcing a smile for a church member to mask his hidden sadness, it's their body language that delivers the most emotion in the role. Like the other Terrence Malick pictures, this is not an easily interpreted film. Chances are, with a second viewing, I may find another meaning to this small and intimate story. That's the greatness of Malick though. He assumes his viewers are intelligent enough to figure it out for themselves without a strict, "by the books" motive and plot. Don't get me wrong. Like any story, there is conflict here. Trust me. There's plenty of it. We witness a husband and wife struggling to co-exist. We witness a priest, living in lonlieness, questioning his God; both struggles stemming from a weakness in faith. Why have the filmmaker explain everything to you in detail though? Sometimes, a great joy in film can be discovering something on your own.

      As with his past films, there's no doubt that To the Wonder will divide viewers into the "Love it/Hate it" camp (Not for anything controversial, but for Malick's style). The pacing is slow. The motives aren't always clear, and the most trying times in the movie are the softest moments, but hey, such is life. Life trials aren't always loud and explosive. We've all been there. Sometimes we bury that anger, or sadness, or bitterness inside us to where on the outside it may appear tranquil; deep down, though, it sits inside our souls and festers. I found myself intrigued and moved by this quiet tale of crises of faith, be it in God or in your lover. I give To the Wonder an A (★★★★).

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