To the Wonder

At this point, a Terrence Malick film that wasn't about God would be like a Woody Allen film that wasn't about neurotics.  Still, what's striking about Malick's latest, "To the Wonder," is that its spiritual elements fall flat.  The most compelling part of the film is what it has to say about relationships.

Now, I'm pulling punches a little here: in a Malick film, everything ties back into the spiritual elements. But his depiction of how a relationship falls apart--here, one between Ben Affleck and Olga Kurylenko--is quite well-observed.  He shows how close depression can be to love, how someone is often withholding a part of himself in a relationship, how women struggle to tame men's aggression and wandering eye.  And of course, because this is Malick, it's conveyed beautifully with images and music more than words.

In contrast, the more explicitly religious material feels recycled.  Kurylenko has a lot of voice-overs which could have easily been said by Jessica Chastain in "The Tree of Life": God is all around us and so on.  Javier Bardem turns up as a priest who's lost touch with his faith.  He doesn't come to any real conclusions, beyond a resolution to carry on.  It's the same old stuff for Malick: the conflict between our  love for God and our love for ourselves.

What I'm describing--a broken relationship, a doubting priest--sounds more like the stuff of a Bergman film, the material of many great dramas.  But Malick seems uninterested in doing anything besides reaffirming his faith.  He's said about all he can on the matter: When you depict the creation of the universe, as he did in "Tree of Life," where can you go from there?  My fear is that Malick will have to choose if he wants to continue making interesting art or staying true to his God.  There can be little doubt where his priorities lie.