Terrence Malick
Song to Song

Fully aware of the significant, varied, and rather harsh criticisms that were already circulating before the film's official release ("thanks" to the previews, which I would personally, frankly abolish without a second thought), as a first-hour Malickian, as I like to call myself (and which I still proudly claim to be), I nonetheless awaited with considerable expectations this latest creation from the American director-author.

Some have spoken of unintentional self-parody, and unfortunately, for the first time, I also find myself objectively struggling to counter those negative opinions, which, to be honest, have become almost a trend with Malick over the past several years (specifically after the Tree of Life "case"...), and are often accompanied by undeserved and misplaced criticism towards a filmmaker who, as I had the chance to state when talking about Days of Heaven, is one of the few who can be considered among the greatest artists and visionaries of his era.

However, it is certainly true that being diverse in the type of films he produces does not interest him. Indeed, Song to Song is yet another work filmed in the now paradigmatic style of the Illinois-born director. The same old story, one might say. But while this mannerism (here really more extreme than usual, admittedly) was widely expected, what weighs more heavily is, for the (my) first time, a certain and obvious vacuity (and it certainly doesn't serve as an excuse that the story unfolds in the vacuous environment of the music business in beautiful Austin, rather than in the Hollywood world of Knight of Cups) in addressing those intimate existential reflections, both essential and universal (we speak, of course, as always, of love, sex, soul, family relationships, identity... and, again as always, there is no plot, or genre to regulate them, only the off-screen meditations of the protagonists, with very little room left for traditional dialogue) that made his previous works so unique and memorable.

If, indeed, the aesthetic hallmark of the extraordinary Malick/Lubezki duo continues to fascinate and always offers even in its repetitiveness, moments of joy for the eyes and the senses, the thought arises that the former really is running out of things to say, or rather, can no longer speak about them in an interesting, profound, and original way. And so, the golden, ethereal aspect of the images emerges weakened, and the magic of the vision is significantly wasted, if not diminished.

Compared to the previous work (thus not taking into account the documentary Voyage of Time, which unfortunately, I have not yet had the chance to see) Knight of Cups, which in my opinion was indeed the boldest and most definitive work of Malick's poetic in this first decade of his prolific filmmaking career, Song to Song (a slightly more commercial film, incidentally) can only come across as the unlucky little brother (especially considering the two films were shot practically simultaneously, with exceedingly similar themes and sharing some actors).

To partially save interest are certainly the small cameos of great rock icons of the 20th century like John Lydon, Iggy Pop, Patti Smith (others, more recent - Arcade Fire -, were cut), the latter in particular makes a mark by briefly speaking about her love for her husband Fred Sonic Smith and his loss; the presence of a Natalie Portman sexy as almost never before (Gosling's character, on the other hand, is practically the cousin of that in La La Land... forgettable Fassbender, Cate Blanchett has almost no part, the most interesting is definitely Rooney Mara's character, who desperately tries to "grasp life" at any cost); some moments here and there... But, something that never happens to me in the cinema, I couldn't resist the temptation to turn on my smartphone to check what time it was and how much longer until the end. A disheartening result: still over half an hour to go. I had to resign myself.

Not that I was bored to death, but still...

Watching a Malick film is, however, always a cinematic experience and a reason for emotion for me, especially in the theater. And even if, in this case, the result didn't thrill me, I still believe it's always worth it.

Let's just say that, in my personal ranking of my favorite films released in 2016, Knight of Cups is among the top spots. Song to Song, by the end of the year, will not appear at all.

Surely those who always found previous chapters irritating will detest this one even more. And this time, I won't be there to counter.