- Actors: Ryan Gosling, Michael Fassbender, Natalie Portman, Rooney Mara, Cate Blanchet
- Director: Terrence Malick
- Disc Format: Widescreen
- Language: English
- Number of discs: 1
- Rated: R
- Studio: Broad Green Pictures
- Release Date: July 4, 2017
- Run Time: 129 minutes
In the first
half of Terrence Malick’s career, he only made a handful of films, and now he
seems to be churning them out every couple of years. For fans of his work, this
may be good news, but the quality and thoughtfulness suffers with the
speediness of each release. The stylistic concerns that have taken over his
latest wave of films often take precedence over any attempt to write a
well-constructed screenplay before starting filming, and the filmmaker’s
improvisational style now mostly contains sequences of his actors doing nothing
in the most self conscious way possible. It often feels as though Malick has
placed a camera in front of the cast and told them to do something. This rarely
ever feels natural, which seems to be the intention of improvisation in
filmmaking, and instead results in a kind of contrived silliness that rarely
resembles real human behavior.
With that
overriding criticism taken into consideration, Song to Song does have more thematic structure than the past few
films by Malick. Even if it is still filled with numerous senselessly wispy
scenes of actors prancing in front of the camera over ostentatiously prosaic voiceover,
there is a clear narrative direction in the overstuffed film. By the end of the
movie, we are clear about the theme, even if the approach is often either
pretentiously poetic or unforgivably melodramatic. The theme of love and love
lost is something that can be felt, even when the screenplay fails to give it
the proper showcase.
Much of what
makes this particular film successful are the performances, even if the
characters are often despicably underwritten and overshadowed by unnecessary
subplots. At the center of the film is a romance between a pair of struggling
songwriter/musicians in the Austin,
Texas music scene. BV (Ryan
Gosling) is wooed by a music producer named Cook (Michael Fassbender), and
begins to work with him despite his bad reputation. While at one of his
parties, BV meets another young songwriter named Faye (Rooney Mara) and the two
almost immediately hit it off. They begin dating each other, with Cook tagging
along as the third wheel. The only problem with this arrangement is that Faye
is secretly sleeping with Cook in hopes that it will propel her career, making
her an instantly detestable character.
Had the film
chosen to remain focused on this love triangle, perhaps working a little harder
to justify the selfish and hurtful actions of Faye, Song to Song could have been a great film, or at least a clear and
concise one. Instead, we are given the distraction of countless other
relationships, as Malick makes another film with a revolving door of beautiful
young actresses, each seeming to have little purpose other than giving the
director something to navel gaze at. I mean that literally. There are endless
scenes of the camera simply lingering on the tight young bodies of attractive
actresses in the throes of foreplay, all of which have very similar appearances
we must assume are Malick’s type. At over two hours long, far too much of Song to Song feels distracted by a pervy
old man’s libido.
While most
filmmakers may have been content with a love triangle, Song to Song gives each of the three main characters their own
secondary love story, which often feels distractingly unnecessary. At the same
time that Cook is sleeping with his friend and co-worker’s girlfriend, he
begins his own relationship with a waitress named Rhonda (Natalie Portman), who
he seduces with nice cars and clothes. Rhonda initially seems to be one of the
few sincere personalities in the film, until her preoccupation with Cook’s
wealth corrupts her into distasteful behavior as well. Cook’s main purpose in
the film seems to be corruption, filling the screen time with numerous
threesomes that again feel like the filmmaker living vicariously through his
attractive young cast members.
The problem with
these flawed characters is that Malick never gives us enough development or
reason to justify their actions. They mostly just come off as superficial and
unlikable, with Gosling’s BV being a slight exception. As the only one reacting
like a human being with normal emotions and average morality, when BV discovers
the web of lies that Cook and Faye have been feeding him, he breaks it off with
both of them. BV seems to be the only character in Malick’s film able to
withstand the temptation of Cook’s wealth, even if he simply runs to another
wealthy partner once discovering the betrayal. BV begins to date a wealthy
woman named Amanda (Cate Blanchett), giving Malick even more reason to
preoccupy his camera with the excess of wealth that has filled much of his
recent cinematography, while Faye has a lesbian affair that allows him to fill
his frame with his other obvious interest.
Anybody who has
watched a Malick film in the last five years won’t be surprised by the
meandering nature of his filmmaking, or by what he chooses to point his camera
at, but they might be surprised by how little music a movie about the music
industry actually contains. It almost feels as if Malick’s primary reason for
setting the movie in the music scene to begin with was merely an excuse to fill
the film with silly cameos that often just distract from the main narrative.
And despite shooting this before La La
Land was made, it doesn’t help to have Gosling’s musical talents go widely underutilized
shortly after audiences had the chance to see him thrive under Damien
Chazelle’s direction. In short, Song to
Song is the best film Malick has made since Tree of Life, but it still comes nowhere close to the quality of
his earlier films.
The Blu-ray
release comes with few bells and whistles. There is no digital copy, no DVD,
and only one special feature. Ironically, that extra is a featurette about the
music in the film, despite it playing such a small role.
Entertainment Value:
6/10
Quality of
Filmmaking: 6.5/10
Historical
Significance: 4/10
Special Features: 3/10
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