To the Wonder (Terrence Malick, 2013)

[Brian C]

Fair enough, but in the future, can I recommend Google for looking up famous people? Also, is it fair to wonder if a list of working mainstream actresses that you have heard of might not be that long?

[lacritfan]

What's the lowdown on Terrence Malick’s Ben Affleck movie?

[Cde.]

Say goodbye to 'The Burial' and hello to 'To the Wonder'.

[Jeff]

Say goodbye to 'The Burial' and hello to 'To the Wonder'.

Huh. Sounds Malicky I guess. If they've submitted it to the MPAA, it must be pretty well locked (as locked as he can get anyway). My guess is that they've secured an MPAA rating and a final cut in time to shop it to potential U.S. distributors at Cannes. This is Malick's only R rating outside of The Thin Red Line.

[hearthesilence]

Ugh, I keep picturing the later, bloated Elvis in a rhinestone jumpsuit warbling that title.

[ianungstad]

From the TIFF press release:

After visiting Mont Saint-Michel — once known in France as the Wonder — at the height of their love, Marina (Olga Kurylenko) and Neil (Ben Affleck) come to Oklahoma, where problems soon arise. Marina makes the acquaintance of a priest and fellow exile (Javier Bardem), who is struggling with his vocation, while Neil renews his ties with a childhood friend, Jane (Rachel McAdams). An exploration of love in its many forms.

[Highway 61]

Fingers crossed that Malick and Lubezki shot a ton of footage at Mont Saint-Michel!

[flyonthewall2983]

Ugh, I keep picturing the later, bloated Elvis in a rhinestone jumpsuit warbling that title.

Sounds more like a Van Morrison song.

[hearthesilence]

I can see that (from his New Age period in the '80s, unfortunately).

[flyonthewall2983]

I like his New Age period, actually. And A Sense Of Wonder (had this in the back of my mind when I posted) is a pretty strong album.

[John Cope]

This is great news. I had heard about the inclusion of Mont Saint Michel awhile back but refused to get enthused about it as I just figured Malick would cut out everything he shot there. Doesn't sound like that will happen now. As a committed MSM fetishist (going back to the days of Ron Fricke's Chronos) I could not possibly be more pleased. I'm sure he and Lubezki will somehow enhance the wonder of this place which already does so well on its own.

[flyonthewall2983]

I hope he goes back to 2:35

[hearthesilence]

I do like "Tore Down à la Rimbaud," it's a fine track, as is the song he was forced to drop, "Crazy Jane on God."

No Guru... and Poetic Champions aren't bad albums either, but the rest is really hit-or-miss for me.

[eerik]

Confirmed for Venice. Only 112 minutes long, the shortest Malick film since Days of Heaven.

[ianungstad]

According to Paul Maher Jr., To the Wonder has almost no dialogue and lots of radical editing. I can't say that really surprises me. Apparently the film has already screened for distributors and they are having trouble selling the pic. If the studios balk at the idea of releasing it, hopefully it will find a home with Sony Pictures Classics or IFC films. Personally, I hope it's not 2 hours of voice over narration.

[ShellOilJunior]

"Too much nudity and sex"

An Italian news bulletin on a network owned by disgraced former prime minister Silvio Berluconi has chided the Venice film festival for putting on its raciest lineup in many years.

[flyonthewall2983]

Nice to know "disgraced" politicians don't just have pull with television networks in America.

[rs98762001]

It's like Bunga Bunga never happened.

Of the top of my head I can't remember any Malick film ever having any sex/nudity. Perhaps there's a quick shot of soldiers stripping and running into the ocean in TTRL, but obviously that wasn't in any sort of sexual context. Piques my curiosity even further.

[whaleallright]

Ben Chaplin and his wife have some very stylized, clothes-on sex in TTRL (this is the part of the time that even its biggest supporters seem to have problems with).

[ianungstad]

From the Toronto film festival website:

Director: Terrence Malick
Country: USA
Year:2012
Language: English, French, Russian, Italian, Spanish
Runtime:112 minutes
Rating:14A

I wonder how much of the film will be subtitled?

[The Fanciful Norwegian]

Remember how Rachel Weisz was supposed to be in this? Well, she isn't.

[John Cope]

What intrigues me is that it sounds like the whole host of notable supporting players have been dropped (Chastain, Peet, Sheen, Pepper). If those reports are true then it appears Malick has refined this down in really dramatic ways.

[Oedipax]

Adrien Brody was once the lead of The Thin Red Line - no one is safe

[John Cope]

Indeed.

[jojo]

Ben Affleck is still in it.