Terrence Malick broke the internet yesterday afternoon, when the first trailer for his forthcoming "Knight Of Cups" landed online and blew most people away (but seriously: how has no one mashed up the voiceover with "The Dark Knight" trailers yet?). But as per usual, it was light on plot, heavy on visuals (which is what Malick’s movies usually are anyway). So what is the movie about? Well, all we know so far is from a logline which states that movie tells the "story of a man, temptations, celebrity, and excess." But now there’s a new, much longer, more abstract tease regarding the (non?) narrative of the film.
Screen Daily has the latest official synopsis for "Knight Of Cups," and it tells a story…and that’s about it. It’s a bit baffling, a bit mystical, and totally Malick. Here you go:
Okay, then. Cate Blanchett, Natalie Portman, Imogen Poots, Brian Dennehy, Jason Clarke, Antonio Banderas, Wes Bentley and more feature in "Knight Of Cups." No distributor or release date yet. Do you have an interpretation of the synopsis? Share it with us in the comments section.
Oh good, I was waiting for someone to point out that this isn\’t original to Malick, rather it is the Hymn of the Pearl…quite gnostic in its storyline.
I kinda see this as Malick\’s La Dolce Vita
Autocorrect be damned! lol
I\’m always astonished when someone in the film community, an seemingly intelligent one as well, says that Malick\’s films are thin on plot. They are some of the most densely plotted, and richly themed films ever made. He just doesn\’t condemned and try and spell things out for the viewer. He challenges them. And to that point, this trailer is very clear in showing that it\’s a story of lost man in search of redemption.
This film looks like another exploration of many of the themes of his last two films, To the Wonder and Tree of Life: the absence of God/ God/ love / the source of love / carnal love vs. transcendent love, etc. How can we live in the love of the "one who loves us", as the Bardem priest character says in To the Wonder, when love is forever fleeting and falling part?
Very poetic. So pretty. Much Malick.
@M – wat.
It looks like Malick is playing the "reality vs. illusion" game. Can\’t wait to see how he handles that.
I wish I was a Malick fan. But I\’m not. Trailer is like a great looking Batman Begins.
rick comes from a wealthy/renowned family, set on a path to achieve something; along the way he meets different people who shows him another side of life, losing sight of his original goal; the king is his wealthy father, the pearl is his goal in life and the deep sleep is the detour he takes in his path.
broke the internet? more like took a big dump on the internet.
"Terrence Malick broke the internet yesterday afternoon" ? Dude, really?
We all will see it anyway.
So Bale is leading himself out of "Egypt" twice in one year?
And judging from the trailer, it fits in well with the theme of Bale\’s character rising from his empty sleep of fame and setting forth to be the man he always wanted to be.
It\’s not a baffling synopsis at all. The story Rick\’s father told him is The Hymn of the pearl(or hymn of the soul, hymn of the robe of glory) from Acts of Thomas.