Song to Song (2017)

Mara, it should be said, has a boldness and directness that makes this sort of soul-baring work. There is also something to the way she moves, which is crucial to a Malick movie. Less important than how the actors “perform” his voiceover dialogue is their relationship with his roving, curious camera. You almost have to dance with it, and Mara does.

Out of all the performances in this film, from the suave, sentimental charm of Gosling to Fassbender’s manipulative, fragile recklessness, Mara steals the show. She is elegant and innocent with a constant undercurrent of emotional uncertainty and she often expresses this without saying anything at all.

“Song to Song” is by no means a conventional film and its themes take time to unravel, but its sharp, colorful visuals, emotionally dense characters and hard-hitting commentaries that sit below the surface are a treat for anyone willing to dig a little deeper. Malick is a master at making movies that are hard to forget and this is no exception.

Faye (Rooney Mara) leads and is the most magnetic property. In fact, her character acts as a mirror for the film as a whole — she is enigmatic, reserved and contradictory. Her story is told mostly through fragmented voiceovers that reveal a portrait of a woman trying to find all of the answers to life’s unanswerable questions.

In Song to Song, Malick can justify the vast cinematography and poeticism better than in his past couple of movies. There is a character leading the movie that the audience can care about and see themselves as. There is warmth and intimacy to the portrayal of Faye and don’t all people see their lives as the biggest adventure they can experience? Where Malick’s other late films have worked to keep the viewer out of them, Song to Song tries to bring the audience in – if they let it.

once a viewer accepts the beat that Song to Song dances to and gives up the expectation of enlightenment and religious experience, they might find more to enjoy than to detest. It is a long, meditative movie, but there is enough going on to make the time pass.