ABSTRACT
I will start with my second contention, since the film form Malick has crafted is deployed across all three films: The Tree of Life (TOL), To the Wonder (TTW), and Knight of Cups (KOC). The transgressive quality of the visual techniques that Malick uses in these films can be gauged by the shrieks of discontent registered in reviews and blogs and online comments about them. The films are scuttled as having no plot and no character development.3 Viewers find irritating the incessant and fragmented shots of twirling mothers or scantily clad lovers bouncing about hotel rooms, accompanied by the always silent, pensive man staring off into space.4 Nothing happens in the films, they complain;5 instead, useless minutes are wasted on roving cinematography and sheer montage, the effects of which are repetitive and incoherent.6 Yes, the films are “beautiful,” even “poetic,” but also “shallow,” and even “narcissistic” to the point of indexing a “stylistic ossification” on the part of this so-called master filmmaker.7
