Terrence Malick’s Song to Song pleases the eye, but not the mind
Song to Song initially seemed like an artistic and interesting film that would revolve around themes such as drug use, complex emotions and relationships, muse and inspiration, sexual experiences etc. I have yet to see a film where these things aren’t involved in the lives of musicians or artists
The film hints at these things but you as the audience feel like a bystander, as if you were not allowed to be there. Like you heard everything from someone else but haven’t experienced it yourself.
This is mostly because of the shabby writing. Every thought and emotion, past, present, future, are just implied. If you are someone who likes profound writing and characters, warning! You won’t get into the worlds of Song to Song characters.
They are like Tom Ford’s dull characters, stylistically crafted but almost just a reflection, no real substance.
For example, the idea to involve real musicians in the film in their natural habitat; a music festival, seems like a superb idea. Nothing changes with them though. No surprise, no reveal, no play between reality and film. If the writing was better, the musicians that featured in the film might have played with audience’s expectation by referencing to their own lives whilst pointing to Faye’s or others’ future.
There is a voiceover when Faye says “he told me I was pretty” that made me cringe. It said nothing special to me about the character and I thought it was unnecessary. I tried hard to understand Faye’s world in the brief scene she had with her father, but I failed. In my opinion, the only meaningful scene was when Faye talked about poet Arthur Rimbaud.
Better monologues and more meaningful dialogues would improve this film ten times more but it falls flat on its face. I don’t think getting Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara, Ryan Gosling and Michael Fassbender together was enough to save this film. Terrence Malick could make a great documentary if he wants to be this flexible, non-linear and fluid with his storytelling because to me, Song to Song has neither a story nor any content.
