To the Wonder: Small yet Poignant

This time, American film critics had their pitchforks ready for Terence Malick's latest. After producing five movies in just under four decades, Malick dropped To the Wonder in April, less than two years after the transcendent Tree of Life.

It's easy to say Malick makes the same movie every time he returns to the screen, seeking grand statements about life, love nature and how small we are in the grand scheme. But most directors stick to their niches, so why can't he? If Malick only makes one kind of movie, at least he makes a type of movie that no one else really makes.

 As usual,  the visuals are stunning and the shots of sunlight-dappled leaves or magnificent sunsets never fail to impress. Little moments in farm fields or among a herd of bison give glimpses of new worlds within our own.

Neil collects soil samples from a polluted stream striking a contrast with the pure tide where he and Marina frolicked beneath the monastery.Their relationship begins with fire and gradually is reduced to embers.

This might be lost on some, but Malick is obviously a classical music aficionado, peppering the film with well-chosen movements and cues from across the classical spectrum. His use of Gorecki's Third Symphony over one monologue is particularly touching.

Javier Bardem's Father Quintana anchors the film, the lonely priest trying to summon his faith and serve his parish. He serves as a counterbalance to Neil, who has no answers for the townspeople victimized by industrial pollution.  The man of the cloth doesn't either, but strengthens them through religion, even as his doubt of God increases.

Take all the Earth origin and dinosaur segments out of Tree of Life, and you have a similar story.

Not every scene works. But most are still effective.

The movie leaves gaps in the narrative, often due to lack of dialogue. Neil barely speaks at all, and noise drowns out much of the dialogue. I'm fine with a little mystery. How often do to strive to solve a riddle or uncover something hidden and once we do, feel a little disappointed? I was not disappointed with To The Wonder, in part because Malick preserves the mystery.