Knight of Cups (Malick, 2015): USA

Reviewed by Adam Holm. Viewed at the 2016 Santa Barbara Film Festival in the Arlington Theater, Sunday February 7, 8:00 PM.

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Watching “Knight of Cups” was probably the weirdest experience i’ve ever had in a theater. Not only because the audience was walking out angry and unsatisfied long time before the film was done, but also because i didn’t understand the film. I’m not sure if the film even had a plot because i didn’t really get what the film was about.

But when that is said, i have been reading some of the reviews of the film from this years film festival, and i must disagree in that it was a waste of time, or the worst 2 hours of my life. I did actually enjoy the film in its own weird visual envoirment, because the cinematography it probably the most beautiful i have ever seen in a film. Big credit to the DP *NAME* for creating such a magnificent art of moving images, and dosen’t get worse when Christian Bale is starring in most of the shots. It is probably impossible to give a plot summary or explain what happened the first 30 minutes… Or in the whole film. But knight of cups gave me a special state of mind when watching the film that i haven’t experienced before. I do also believe that the film would be 100% more interesting if i was on psychedelic drugs of some kind, because you really didn’t have to do anything else than sit back and relax. There wasn’t a plot or a story to follow, just the most stunning cinematography of the best parts of LA that you can imagine.

The acting in “Knight of Cups” was decent but off course not the best performance by Christian Bale. It was definitely the visual style that caught my attention during the whole film. The sound, the music, the editing and as i mentioned the cinematography was nothing but amazing. Making a reference to another film would be impossible for me because it was my first experience with a real art film.

If you like beautiful cinematography and highclass production in case of sound, editing and music – this film is for you. If you like tripy experiences and the felling of being on drugs when you’re not, “Knight of Cups” is definitely for you. I really think that the whole crew had molly (MDMA) in their water bottles during the whole production – and if you know that before you go to theater, i think you will be satisfied with the film.

 


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