Knight
Of Cups (2015/Broadgreen Blu-ray)
Picture:
B+ Sound: B+ Extras: C- Film: B+
It
goes without saying that Terrence Malick's new film Knight of Cups
(2015) is a gorgeous cinematic achievement. Using some big Hollywood
heavyweights in such a surreal film like this is a treat and also
challenges them as performers more than their usual green screen
fare. I'm referring to such major, key actors you may have heard of
before: Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Natalie Portman, Brian
Dennehy, Freida Pinto, Wes Bentley, Isabel Lucas, Imogen Poots,
Teresa Palmer, Antonio Banderas, and loads more cameos all of which
inhabit this familiar, yet at the same time dangerous world that
Malick crafts cleverly using voice over to describe the character's
inner monologue, as well as many scenes where characters spit out
little dialogue and express their emotions more through body
language. We learn in the special features that the actors were
presented loose dialogue to improv along with some ideas and not
given much to go off of before they arrived to set.
While
the plot is kind of lucid and hard to summarize as simply as most,
Knight of Cups presents Rick (Bale), whom is sort of drifting
through his life in Los Angeles and Vegas, sleeping with some of the
most beautiful women the planet has to offer, making tons of cash,
and spending time on the ocean. He isn't without his faire share of
drama and misfortune however and the film takes us through his short
lived romantic relationships and personal drama as he copes with his
aging and angry Father (Dennehy), loser Brother (Bentley), and a life
that he can't seem to get a handle on.
Despite
his beautiful and fortunate surroundings, his character is just dead
inside and Malick does a good job of presenting this to the audience.
No matter how great of a life this guy seemingly lives, you also
kind of feel sympathetic towards him due to his emptiness. Not to
say that there aren't moments of the film where we see Rick enjoying
his freedoms but Knight of Cups is a film that you may or may
not enjoy. Most of it is completely up to interpretation and many of
its themes are shown visually more than told through dialogue. This
is sure to be a film (and should be) that is shown to film students
as an example of high end filmmaking.
The
cinematography by top notch DP Emmanuel Lubezki is some of the most
interesting that I've seen in a film in a while. Mixing a wide range
of different formats, there are scenes shot on film, scenes shot on
digital, aerials, GoPro, handheld, underwater photography, and of
course some very cinematic shots as well, all of which compliment the
state of mind of our character. The editing is also extremely
impressive and flows beautifully throughout the film and is
specifically a highlight in a surreal scene in a Vegas party where
Rick is intoxicated, that is accompanied by quick cutting and moments
of slow motion and low shutter speeds that really pull off the effect
well.
Presented
in 1080p high definition with a widescreen aspect ratio of 2.35:1 and
a lossless, English DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 track that presented
the film in very high quality on Blu-ray disc. The film has a
beautiful color palette that is really well represented on Blu-ray
and even shots of national landmarks in Los Angeles and Vegas and
familiar areas such as the LACMA Museum, really stand out in stunning
detail here. No Digital Copy of Blu-ray with this edition, however.
The
disc is also light on extras - the only one one being The Making
of Knight of Cups featurette that accompany several other
releases from Broadgreen Pictures.
If
you're a fan of fine cinema - then you will want to see this
immediately.
-
James Lockhart
https://www.facebook.com/jamesharlandlockhartv/
