Old Reviews: To the Wonder and A Royal Affair

Goodies from 2012.

I've recently watched two really good movies (i.e., top 10 of 2012 worthy). The first is Terrence Malick's "Tree of Life" follow up, "To the Wonder." Stylistically and photographically, "To the Wonder" is brilliant! It has to be one of the most beautifully shot movies of all time. Malick and Lubezki are a force to be reckoned with. It's worth watching just for this reason. It's about longing. Ben Affleck's character longs for whichever girl he's not with (the country bumpkin he grew up with or the Parisian he's just met). Olga Kurylenko's character (the Parisian woman) longs for Ben Affleck's character. Javier Bardem's character longs for human connection and a sense of spirit. I wouldn't say it is as good as its predecessor but it is essential viewing for Malick lovers. I'd say there's simultaneously not enough Malick (shots could be held longer, more character/motivation development would have been nice) and too much Malick (people aren't always crawling around beautifully, are they?). Like I said it's worth watching because Malick is really great at capturing beauty, but I'm not sure there's anything deeper here. "Tree of Life" and his other films affected me much more than this. I think Malick's style is best when juxtaposed with more traditional styles. It's not like Ozu or Wes Anderson's style, where you can just take it all in and never feel like it's self-parody or inauthentic (of course, some will disagree with me on this). Nevertheless, I highly recommend! I'm just hard on Malick because I expect a lot from genius. It's playing in theaters and available on iTunes (but don't watch it on your dinky computer!).

The second is another beautifully shot movie: Nikolaj Arcel's "A Royal Affair." I was very surprised by how awesome this movie turned out to be. I'm not a big fan of movies set in this period. However, this movie gave a very modern feel to that period since it deals with the contrasting values of 18th century Denmark and the values of the Enlightenment. Mads Mikkelsen, Alicia Vikander, and Mikkel Folsgaard are all brilliant in this film. The film is very linear, but this is not a downfall. Every sequence leads seamlessly into the next. Arcel really knows how to tell a story. Moreover, the photography is very beautiful and, actually, quite Malick-esque. "A Royal Affair" is newly available on Netflix Instant. I dare you not to watch it more than once!