Soliloquy

Knight of Cups maintains its pretence of being inaccessible for inasmuch as its own ideas of sanity allow it to be, only to fall apart and get torn into shreds inside the mind of the more discerning viewer. Christian Bale plays tormented screenwriter Rick in the film and enters into the latter’s skin in only the way he can.

Terrence Malick, known for his sensual, dreamy and philosophical films on the human condition when put to the test against the murkier waters of corruption and degradation, aces this one with all marks. Bale’s is the story’s primary character, but the ones played by Natalie Portman, Cate Blanchett and Antonio Banderas are treated with just as much respect, if not more.

Malick won my heart with the cameo played by Peter Matthiessen as the curator of a Zen garden; it is the lack of words in this film – albeit the droning Ben Kingsley in the background adds to its appeal – that makes its inaccessibility all the more ingratiating.

There are times when men are confronted with the inquiry of what, in fact, is the purpose of life. Rick questions himself despite the immense success that he has garnered in his field of work along with the worldly pleasures that he pursues without seemingly any guilt or remorse; it is the opposite – as to what exists beyond all of this – that torments him all the more.

Self-recriminating to a fault, Knight of Cups is a film not for the faint-hearted, or for those who are not willing to look within for questions posed to them by the world. It is the lack of words, yet not the voice, that may turn off the spartan viewer from this film, but it is exactly that which will attract the more cultivated one.

Rating: 4/5

If you like my work, consider visiting my website to get in touch with more of my writing. You can follow me on Twitter as well. Also, sign up for the newsletter to get regular updates coming your way. I would love to talk to you!