TO THE WONDER

US, 2013, 117 minutes, Colour.
Ben Affleck, Olga Kurylenko, Rachel Mc Adams, Javier Bardem.
Directed by Terrence Malick.

To begin with, a caution which may be helpful in approaching To the Wonder. Writer-director, Terrence Malick has made very few films in 40 years, Badlands, Days of Heaven in the 1970s,then The Thin Red Line in 1998, The New World in 2005. More recently he has become very active, with The Tree of Life, both a cosmic exploration and a focus on an ordinary family and ordinary human beings, in 2010. There are several films in process of production. The first to be released is To the Wonder.

And the caution? Narrative clarity is not a clear concern for Mallick. There is a narrative but his preferred way of communicating is more like visual art, music and poetry. The film is arresting to look at: the first part is in France, in tourist attraction places like the Luxembourg Gardens as well as the ordinary streets in Paris, the French countryside and a visit to Mont Saint Michel, the monastic island which can be cut off from the mainland of France at high tide. Its chapel and gardens are a wonder. The next part of the film is set in Oklahoma, very flat territory, rather monotonous suburban streets and homes, open fields, and watercourses that have to be tested for pollution.

Words are to a minimum. In the French section, it is French that is mainly spoken and there are subtitles. Later in the film, in Oklahoma, there is again some French but there is also a Hispanic character who speaks in Spanish, with subtitles.

Some reviewers have found Malick’s filmmaking exhilaratingly artistic and poetic. Other audiences, who prefer straightforward communication, have found the film baffling or bewildering, Many not prepared to give it their attention.

Having said this, it is important to say that Malick has a very distinctive type of film making, attractive and interesting in its way, but building up a niche market rather than appealing to the wide audience.

The story is in many ways very simple: an American and a Ukrainian refugee in France fall in love; she has a daughter; they are together but he cannot commit to marriage; we share their passionate love for each other. It is different in Oklahoma. He has a job as an engineer. She languishes. Her daughter wants to reconnect with her father and leaves. There are some complications, coming and goings in the life of the woman and the engineer. At one stage, he is compensating by taking up a relationship with a friend from school. She is Protestant and evangelical, quoting St. Paul, reading her bible in public, asking the engineer to pray with her.

The other central character is a Hispanic priest. He works in a parish in Oklahoma, has a very distinctive outreach to the poor and marginalized. He communicates well with them and is concerned for them. The engineer is a catholic and attends mass. The woman comes to confession and communion, her prelude to a very bad decision she makes which has an effect on the relationship.

For audiences with interest in religion, struggles with personal belief, the reality of prayer and an interior life, the priest character would be most interesting. We hear his questions, his longing for God, for a sense of God’s presence. He is in some dark night of senses and soul. We glimpse his loneliness as he is filmed walking detached through a joyful wedding reception. It is not as if he has lost faith. Rather, his desire for a greater awareness of faith and the presence of God he is a desire for prayer, is prayer itself. Towards the end he prays the breastplate of St Patrick.

So here is a rather commonplace story, presented with visual flair, poetic style, expecting the audience to do a lot of work in their responses, filling in the gaps, reflecting on the characters and their situations, on their stances and values.

The final image of the film is Mont Saint Michel, an ending to indicate some of the deeper meanings of the film experience.
Ben Affleck plays the engineer. Olga Kurylenko plays the woman. Rachel Mc Adams plays the friend. Javier Bardem plays the priest, and very effectively.

1. The impact of the film? Poetry, art, music? Audience response, senses, imagination, mind?

2. The style of narrative: basic information, the development of plot and character, less explicit, audiences supplying detail and response? Pieces of narrative, interconnections?

3. Characters, self-revelation, body language, actions, interactions, limited words? Love, conflict, contradictions, betrayal, reconciliation?

4. The director, his limited number of films, his style of story-telling? Poetic style?

5. The title, Mont Saint Michel, the steps up to The Wonder, the delight in the garden, The Wonder? An experience of transcendence and joy? The final image of the film?

6. The element of transcendence in the film, sense of the divine, the role of nature, people, a love that loves?

7. The first part of the film in France, the city of Paris, the various angles, snapshots, contemplation of landscapes? The streets, the gardens of Luxembourg, and touristic look, people at home in Paris?

8. The country road, driving, Mont Saint Michel, the distant glimpses, the monastery, the steps, The Wonder, the cathedral? The cathedral and the sense of art? The sand, playing in the water, footsteps, sand, like a walking on water? The tide coming in, a sense of isolation?

9. Marina, her beauty, her character, her movement and dancing? Love? Her daughter? the experiences, intimate, kissing, embracing? The later revelation of her story? 17, a child, the father of the daughter, marrying or not? In France, the talk about love, marriage and commitment?

10. Neil as an engineer, American in France, language, English and French, love for Marina, engineer, tenderness, sharing the experience? Yet not marrying? The taking the risk? A possible future?

11. The daughter, her relationship with her mother, the absent father, sharing with Neil and Marina? The transition to America, Oklahoma and the landscapes, the contrast? The language issues? Friends, school? The daughter, Neil, wanting to be with her father, leaving? The sadness of her life? The antagonism with her mother?

12. Oklahoma, the small town, the houses, the suburbs, their ordinariness, regularity, the drab surroundings, the streets? The interiors of the house? The workplaces?

13. Marina and her daughter coming to Oklahoma, the dancer from Paris going to a world of ordinariness and industry? The issues of pollution and Neil and
his work, on the job? The church, religious background? Catholic tradition?

14. Marina adapting, yet melancholic, her relationship with Neil, the tensions, the violence, the arguments, glimpsed by the audience and the audience supplying the intensity of feeling, the words? The reconciliations? Her daughter, alienation from her daughter, the daughter and her an alienation from Neil? Her leaving?

15. Marina, isolated, the effect on her, her decision to leave? The effect on Neil?

16. His meeting Jane, their friendship in the past, coming together, the attraction, out in the field, her work, the visuals of the fields, her quoting the Letter to the Romans that all would come together, her carrying the bible, bible reading, prayer out in the open? The more Protestant tradition? Building a relationship, its failing, the disappointments?

17. Marina’s return, her attempt to redeem the past? Yet the repetition of the patterns? The building, the builder and the musical instrument, the gift? Her going to church, her going to confession, the priest giving her communion, bread and wine? The immediate aftermath with the builder, going to the motel, the sexual encounter, the effect on her? His reaction? In the car, explaining the situation to Neil, while the audience watched but did not hear any words? Her wanting to confess? Neil ousting her from the car, his return to collector? The angers, his inability to make any commitment? Her leaving?

18. The portrait of the priest, Hispanic background, in Oklahoma, his clerical shirt and trousers, no coat? A working priest? vestments at mass, his sermon on choices and risks? His vestments and celebrating the wedding, the atmosphere of joy, his being photographed as isolated, walking in and amongst the guests? His interior life, his questions, his desire for God’s presence, his prayer, the dark night of his soul, the language of prayer, the mystical touch? His talking with Marina, the confession, the communion? The old man and his talking, the lights coming through the stained glass, their hands in the cross, talking in tongues, his asking whether the priest was lonely? His urging to energy? The continued prayer and questions as he went about his work, the Breastplate of Saint Patrick, Neil in the church? Priestly and pastoral encounter with ordinary people, the range of the poor, the collage of people? The Downe’s syndrome man and his not wanting the priest to go to Canada? The priest and his experience, searching for the transcendent, seeking the wonder?

19. Neil, the future and peace? Marina and her future? The final image of Mont Saint Michel?

20. Images of light, hope, the transcendent - The Wonder?