3) Knight of Cups
Even those who don’t normally like trying the flavour of Terrence Malick’s tone poem-like films may still be stunned by the trailer for Knight of Cups, one of the most rapturous ads of the year. It is a rush of intoxicating images and evocative themes, and it looks as stunning as anything the master filmmaker has ever made.
There is certainly a vibe to the trailer that is in sync with the director – the scenic visual poetry, probing close-ups, dreamy voice-over. However, Knight of Cups also looks like it is telling a story about the disillusionment of celebrity, recalling the works of Sofia Coppola. The glimpses of the high Hollywood life, saturated and atmospheric, are inviting, just as they are to the main character. While some claim that the director’s films are too elegant, there is a sordidness and contempt seething through many of the frames here. The classical music doesn’t come until the end, meanwhile, replaced earlier on by a throbbing bass line.
Malick points his camera toward the superficiality and alienation of Hollywood, a subject he probably knows well as an iconoclast of mainstream cinema. Like one of his films, this trailer is one that needs a couple of views to comprehend and appreciate.
It gives off the feelings and the themes of Knight of Cups – there seems to be a disconnect between Bale’s character and the other characters, akin to his portrayal of Patrick Bateman from American Psycho, and many shots from this ad center around bodies of water, like beaches and swimming pools, likely hinting at the protagonist’s sinking and renewal (or vice versa).
Although there is no current release date for the film, prepare for this one to stun (and divide) art-house moviegoers within the next few months.
