First off this is a different film. A different type of storytelling that worked for me. Now there are films where everything is a bit music video with lots of visuals showing the leads (especially the female lead) doing cute and fun stuff.
This film is like that but in the best way possible. Now there are hardly any dialogues, probably less than ten, there is some multi language voice over and some music too but as you watch the film you realise that all one does not really need that much dialogue (and this is coming from someone who loves talky films), or music or voice over to tell a story. If one is good that is and Mr.Malick is good.
The cast was also very very good but then again I realise that a good director usually knows how to make his actors look as if they are great actors.
The leads of the story are a woman and a man. They meet in Paris and travel a bit (beautiful shots of a castle or probably a monastery since there was a cloister) most definitely in love. Some of the shots are taken from the man's camera but mostly we witness their happines. Then we see that the woman has a daughter from her first husband and the child lives with her. The man likes the kid and asks them both to move to USA with him. He is doing some kind of environmental related work (I think he assesses projects, acts as experts on environmental law suits, taking samples from polluted areas). Now mid USA is not Paris and despite loving each other and being generally happy the women and the child are clearly having adjustment problems. The man is also not as enamoured as them as the first. The film was so good in depicting especially this part in a relationship, where that magical shine wears off and the person next to you becomes somehow annoying from time to time. Also the woman is catholic and there is a priest and we get to see him doing his job.
Anyway the woman and the girl goes back to their own country when the woman's visa expires and the man starts a relationship with another woman. This time an American in the same area who owns a ranch with horses. They have a good time but suddenly he hears from his old lover and it appears she is in a bad situation in Paris. Her daughter is now living with her dad, she doesn't have a job and wants to come back to USA (even considering fake marriage to get a green card). And the man dumps the current one and agrees to a fake marriage with his first girlfriend. They get married but do not sleep together but of course then they start to sleep together and also get married for real at a church.
But the original problems were not limited to the existence of a child from another man. Mid USA is still boring. And the woman has a friend who advises her to dump the man and move on to a more free place (and she is trying to be a nice friend and I have been there and gave not so good advice to friends with good intentions) but the woman for some reason, chooses to fuck another guy instead. She regrets her decision and comes clean with her husband who reacts badly at first, dumping her at the side of the road. But there was a problem with her productive organs due to what she used for birth control (a spiral I think) and they take it out and she was a ill for a little while but will be able to have kids again.
And this part was not really clear to me since there was a kid all of a sudden (I'm guessing she got pregnant from her having sex with the other guy) and the man was having troubles accepting all this. The main thing was that he was not able to understand how she doesn't seem to want him as much as before. How she can love him so little as to have sex with another man? He discusses this with the priest (we only see him utter a sentence) and then we see the woman leaving at the airport saying goodbye to the man and it is not an angry goodbye for either of them.
God I really had a lot to say about this one. I liked it that it was vague at places and completely clear on the important parts. I loved the visuals, and not only they looked beautiful (this is one of those films where you can pretty much freeze any second of it and hang in on your wall) but also filled with emotions. At least I was as I watched them. It reminded me a bit of Wong Kar Wai's films.
I don't understand why no one likes Ben Affleck. He is a good actor, also a good looking man. I loved him in this. Olga Kuryenko suprised me with an amazing performance since I like her a lot but never thought of her as a good actress. And Rached McAdams was really good too at a smaller part. Javier Bardem as the priest, once again gave a top notch performance but I can't seem to like this man. Don't know why but I can't.
This film is one of those that is not for everyone. It is a different way of story telling but now I think I'll check more films from this director out.
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