Knight of Cups (2016)

I was happy to see this sort of a cast to be part of this sort of a movie. I was impressed.It's a contemplative movie, such as La Grande Bellezza and the like. It doesn't have much of a plot, but the feelings expressed, the shots, the gentle suggestions make for an everlasting trip. I was calming to see how easy this movie made me at peace with myself, presenting a scenery of fear and anguish in a most profound way.It's true, it's either hate it or love it, it was certainly worth it for me. The actors' performances were brilliant, albeit minimal. I don't believe the protagonist utters more than 20 or 30 lines. But it's an atmosphere of endless flow and deep introspection. A great choice for personal reflection and meditative retreat.

As for me, this director is done. His last best film was 'The New World'. I don't know why someone keeps financing him. It is neither an art and message film, nor has any entertainment value. In one word, total-crap. All the above, these actors agreeing to do the roles. Definitely this director's films have received more boos at Cannes than any others. Not fit for film festivals, as well as theatrical releases. The surprise part was, I saw it. Even after I felt a similar way for his previous film.There's no story. Just a random acts. Even documentary films have a better narrative. Remember a film was being made by Willem Dafoe in the film 'Mr. Bean's Holiday', this is exactly the same film. Except there's no Mr. Bean/Atkinson here to make it a cheerful additional editing. It was like the director woke up in the morning and decided to do what he felt to shoot without a script.I dislike whispering background narration. It is like a lullaby, one might fall into sleep. Not just asleep, but a deep sleep. Direct dialogues between the characters are like an oasis in this film. If you have nothing to do and ready for a slow film, you should not consider it then too, because it is not a film, but a two hour long torture. Easily skippable film.1.5/10

Shaken after surviving a massive earthquake, a Hollywood screenwriter reflects on his life and faded memories blur with the present in this ambitious anti-narrative project from Terrence Malick. The film is littered with beautiful shots from unusual camera angles and lenses and mobile camera-work that follows the protagonist around and there is a lot to like in Malick's attempts to paint his thought processes on screen. Solid as Christian Bale is in the lead though, he does not have a particularly well developed character, which makes it hard to get emotionally invested in his meanderings. Brian Dennehy provides a very strong performance as his grief-stricken father and there are hints of past tragedy in their family and possibly a failed marriage, but these all ultimately remain hints with Dennehy and Wes Bentley (as Bale's brother) receiving very limited screen time. That said, some of Bale's alone moments are his best and in the film's strongest scene, his apartment is robbed by intruders who scoff at how little cash he has, his lack of credit cards and very few valuables at home; this scene more than any other marks him realising just how empty his life is. More scenes like this may have rendered 'Knights of Cups' a quiet masterpiece. As it is, it is undeniably interesting as something offbeat and very, very different, but it is hardly the most satisfying film out there.

Terrence Malick's Knight of Cups (2015) is a pretentious nonsense. Throwing attractive actors into a pretty footage and adding mysteriously suggestive narration does not make this 2-hour movie important or deserving attention. The result is boring, repetitive, and is a waste of viewer's time. How many beautiful models in designer closing can one add to a high-end Californian scenery without questioning such multiplication?Do you think that mentioning pregnancies, separations, family issues, into the protagonist's life can make him any more interesting? Or maybe you think that accentuating his observant neutrality in the midst of "love experience" or group sex highlights his Buddha-like detachment on the way to enlightenment? It is very surprising that this director dared to present this material as a film.