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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

"To the Wonder" by Terrence Malick

Tom Lowe

Tom Lowe

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"To the Wonder" is a beautiful, poignant, haunting, soul-wrenching, wondrous, and supremely honest film. This is easily Malick's most personal film -- that much is obvious to me. For those who are looking for traditional narratives and spoon-fed "stories", you will not find them here. Some critics have criticized Malick for "directorial indulgence," as if a director's job is to make art of the masses and if he "indulges" himself too much, this is somehow a sin. I do not believe in that. I believe a director should make art for himself, and for no one else. In this sense, Terry excels and with this film is truly flourishing :)

Godfrey Reggio once told me that the highest aim of art is not to tell stories, but to evoke emotions that lead to greater, unspeakable truths. Malick is not interested in structures; he is interested in truths discoverable through emotions. He is seeking to catch glimpses of the mystery of what it means to be a human being in this universe....and those fleeting glimpses, to me, are magic.

BTW... this film includes some gorgeous, sumptuous Red imagery shot by our own Dino G.. mainly shots of Paris subways and night scenes. The Red stuff looks very clean and fits the movie beautifully. Hooorraah, Dino! :beer:
 
Can. Not. Wait.

Thanks for your review, Tom. These kinds of statements (and of course, these kinds of filmmakers) help drive me to make something more out of this craft, and restore some faith in humanity by way of its means of expression. Malick embodies this faith.

Best,
Clint
 
Oh man I can't wait fot this. Malik is my touch stone for going through this mad business.
 
Hard to say what % was digital.

I forgot to mention that it looks like at least some of what Reduser member Julio Quintana shot also made it into the film -- mainly shots with Javier Bardem. Maybe Julio can speak on that.
 
Nice comment Tom !!


Tom Lowe said:
To_the_Wonder_Terrence_Malick_36.png


"To the Wonder" is a beautiful, poignant, haunting, soul-wrenching, wondrous, and supremely honest film. This is easily Malick's most personal film -- that much is obvious to me. For those who are looking for traditional narratives and spoon-fed "stories", you will not find them here. Some critics have criticized Malick for "directorial indulgence," as if a director's job is to make art of the masses and if he "indulges" himself too much, this is somehow a sin. I do not believe in that. I believe a director should make art for himself, and for no one else. In this sense, Terry excels and with this film is truly flourishing :)

Godfrey Reggio once told me that the highest aim of art is not to tell stories, but to evoke emotions that lead to greater, unspeakable truths. Malick is not interested in structures; he is interested in truths discoverable through emotions. He is seeking to catch glimpses of the mystery of what it means to be a human being in this universe....and those fleeting glimpses, to me, are magic.

BTW... this film includes some gorgeous, sumptuous Red imagery shot by our own Dino G.. mainly shots of Paris subways and night scenes. The Red stuff looks very clean and fits the movie beautifully. Hooorraah, Dino! :beer:
Click to expand...
 
Tom Lowe said:
Hard to say what % was digital.

I forgot to mention that it looks like at least some of what Reduser member Julio Quintana shot also made it into the film -- mainly shots with Javier Bardem. Maybe Julio can speak on that.
Click to expand...

I haven't seen it yet! It's released here in Austin this weekend so I'll check in after that to report how much of our Red footage actually made it in. Thanks for the review, Tom!
 
Tom Lowe said:
To_the_Wonder_Terrence_Malick_36.png


"To the Wonder" is a beautiful, poignant, haunting, soul-wrenching, wondrous, and supremely honest film. This is easily Malick's most personal film -- that much is obvious to me. For those who are looking for traditional narratives and spoon-fed "stories", you will not find them here. Some critics have criticized Malick for "directorial indulgence," as if a director's job is to make art of the masses and if he "indulges" himself too much, this is somehow a sin. I do not believe in that. I believe a director should make art for himself, and for no one else. In this sense, Terry excels and with this film is truly flourishing :)

Godfrey Reggio once told me that the highest aim of art is not to tell stories, but to evoke emotions that lead to greater, unspeakable truths. Malick is not interested in structures; he is interested in truths discoverable through emotions. He is seeking to catch glimpses of the mystery of what it means to be a human being in this universe....and those fleeting glimpses, to me, are magic.

BTW... this film includes some gorgeous, sumptuous Red imagery shot by our own Dino G.. mainly shots of Paris subways and night scenes. The Red stuff looks very clean and fits the movie beautifully. Hooorraah, Dino! :beer:
Click to expand...


I suppose I will be the lone dissenter on your comment Tom.

First off, the question may arise: Is Torrie a disgruntled filmmaker who's jealous of Malick's success?

To answer, not at all. Would I like to have $20 Million or more to play in the sandbox and have a few famous friends come along for the ride? Sure, but I would feel insanely guilty as I'd feel an obligation to be responsible to those who financed such an excursion.

When you're using other people's money it ought to weigh heavily upon you. Some may argue such awareness may destroy the purity of creation, but it's been proven time and time again the best innovations occur when we have something to lose.

If one needs to be inspired by someone else's self-indulgence to spur oneself to action then perhaps it's the filter with which one sees the world that needs changing. I find beauty and fulfillment every day -whether it's my wife's generous and kind nature or the whimsical comments from any of my children, or the way the sun hits a melting icicle as spring comes to yield a new season of growth and hope. Those things inspire me.
 
Jeremy Torrie said:
I suppose I will be the lone dissenter on your comment Tom.

First off, the question may arise: Is Torrie a disgruntled filmmaker who's jealous of Malick's success?

To answer, not at all. Would I like to have $20 Million or more to play in the sandbox and have a few famous friends come along for the ride? Sure, but I would feel insanely guilty as I'd feel an obligation to be responsible to those who financed such an excursion.

When you're using other people's money it ought to weigh heavily upon you. Some may argue such awareness may destroy the purity of creation, but it's been proven time and time again the best innovations occur when we have something to lose.

If one needs to be inspired by someone else's self-indulgence to spur oneself to action then perhaps it's the filter with which one sees the world that needs changing. I find beauty and fulfillment every day -whether it's my wife's generous and kind nature or the whimsical comments from any of my children, or the way the sun hits a melting icicle as spring comes to yield a new season of growth and hope. Those things inspire me.
Click to expand...

Everyone who collaborates with Terry Malick gets more out of it than they put in. I promise you that.
 
Definitley checking this out this weekend!

I have some related news connected with my film that I sure wish I could share right now...
 
I saw it. It is self-indulgent.
There is a necessary tension that occurs when there are some limits.
His earlier work was much stronger as a result.

My .02 cents.
 
Julio Quintana said:
Everyone who collaborates with Terry Malick gets more out of it than they put in. I promise you that.
Click to expand...

Including the people behind the money, for this and similar projects. There are many in the world who have enough to lose without worry. No one contributing has dreams or turning $20M into 100. Art museums have benefactors who never see a return at all, but they sign yearly checks. This scenario is rare in high-end film but luckily we have at least one.
 
Julio Quintana said:
Everyone who collaborates with Terry Malick gets more out of it than they put in. I promise you that.
Click to expand...

thank you tom for your kind words, it was nice hanging out with you...

...after 5 movies with terry, he looked me deep in the eyes and said to me at the wrap party for project V (the one we wrapped in november of 2012), "thank you so much dino, i can't do these without you." he is an incredibly smart and kind man that speaks with his movies. if it is not something that you want to experience, don't. these movies are best watched several times, i have now seen it 3 times and learn something new, experience something new each time.

percentage of digital. quite small indeed, my scenes were probably a minute or two at the most, so if it was two then less than 1%, but i could never replace spending two week in paris with terry and a few others including ben and olga. it was a remarkable experience and i have jim and jarred and ted to thank for it, truly with out their trust and hard work i would never know terry or chivo never mind be respected by them. thank you guys!

see the film if you would like, but it is not batman or spiderman or oblivion or just about anything you have ever seen. be prepared to think deeply about the imagery and the narration. terry and the editors spend years going through more footage than what it typically takes to make ten standard films looking for the diamonds. and dont worry about the investors and their money, i know them personally and as i have said on other posts, their lifestyles are not changing no matter what these films gross, but they will now and forever be the Theo to our era's Vincent and 500 years on, that will matter.

enjoy...

let me add, if you make more money than you require to live and have the lifestyle you desire and you are not giving some of it to the arts and artists without concern for ever getting it back, then brother, you are not on the right forum.
 
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