Song to Song Movie Download

4 / 10

‘Song to Song’ just doesn’t sing
This review is not coming from a Terrence Malick detractor. In fact he is a director that falls for me in the “appreciate very highly” category.

His first five films were either very good (‘The New World’), great(‘Badlands’) and outstanding (‘The Thin Red Line’, ‘Days of Heaven’ and ‘The Tree of Life’). Certainly don’t anything at all against anybody who doesn’t like those films or Malick in general, as Malick has a very unique, unconventional style that also isn’t widely accessible, his films unlike many seen before or since, something that will entice a lot and perplex others. Was very much mixed on his next two films ‘To the Wonder’ and ‘Knight of Cups’, but they had good qualities.

‘Song to Song’, as of now from personal opinion, is Malick’s worst. It is the film that connected with me the least, engaged me the least (never watch a film expecting entertainment from all of them, instead judging them in what they set out to do) and perplexed me the most. Do have to disagree respectfully that it is his most accessible film, ‘Badlands’ and ‘Days of Heaven’ are stronger contenders for that. If anything, as well as being his least ambitious (‘The Tree of Life’), ‘Song to Song’ is the film that will alienate audiences the most.

It is not without good things. Again from personal opinion, none of Malick’s films are 1/10 films and none of them are close to being among the worst films ever made let alone THE worst. As always with Malick, ‘Song to Song’ does look absolutely stunning, the cinematography (not surprising considering one of the best cinematographers around Emmanuel Lubezki was responsible) has a very dream-like quality to it, the colours positively leap out at you in an eye-popping way and the scenery has a sweeping beauty.

Every single one of Malick’s films are among the most beautiful films visually I’ve seen, with every frame having a breathtakingly naturalistic quality without feeling too orchestrated. The music gives an audibly rich, overwhelmingly emotional and quite haunting quality, fitting perfectly with everything on screen.

When it comes to the acting, Ryan Gosling, Rooney Mara and Michael Fassbender do great jobs. Mara especially is wonderful, her face and eyes say so much and all when she is saying little. Malick’s style is unmistakable and is all over the film, and it is clear that he has put a lot of thought into his directing.

As was said with ‘To the Wonder’ and ‘Knight of Cups’, he is not entirely successful sadly. His directing has a thoughtful and philosophical touch, but did get the sense that he was trying too hard and that he was focusing too much on some aspects and not enough on others. Not everybody comes off well in the acting, Iggy Pop was just bizarre and out of place and while Cate Blanchett does her best she has very little to do, a waste of a great actress.

Regarding the voice overs, they are easily the worst voice overs in any of Malick’s films. Not in how the actors deliver them, it’s the way they are written that’s the problem. They strive to be poetic, instead they are self-indulgent (“pretentious” is one of my most hated words now so won’t be using that) and preachy, some of them do not flow well at all. There is a succession dream-like moments, some are very dreamy and beautiful but most are fragmented and endless. Spontaneity actually feels like stilted improvisation, authenticity is little and shape is even less.

Didn’t engage with the characters really (apart from Mara’s, but that was more to do with Mara’s acting), most of them seemed disconnected and in a few cases pointless. ‘Song to Song’ is Malick at his most disjointed and dullest (a more preferable adjective to replace another one of my most hated words “boring”, like “pretentious” it’s overused and abused here).

It was the story, or lack of, and the pace that most underwhelmed. Do not have a problem with slow pacing, Malick’s films are deliberately meditative and some of my favourite films are the same. But when the story came across as emotionally empty and disjointed, very like ‘To the Wonder’ and ‘Knight of Cups’ except they didn’t leave me as stone cold as here, and mostly indecipherable (anybody will be forgiven having a hard time describing the plot let alone figuring it out) as well as the again personal themes barely developed it was impossible to engage with it. Thus making it a chore to sit through, even with ‘To the Wonder’ and ‘Knight of Cups’ faults they didn’t make me feel this way anywhere near as much.

Overall, very disappointing and just doesn’t sing. 4/10 Bethany CoxRead More