Terrence Malick‘s documentary “Voyage of Time,” which had its North American premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on Saturday in two dramatically different versions, is an astounding, and gorgeously poetic piece of filmmaking. It’s also a work so idiosyncratic that it will likely appeal to only a minority of moviegoers.
Oh,and it’s kind of a kids’ film, too.
Such are the contradictions and confusions in Terrence Malick‘s cinematic universe, and which finds some glorious new territory in “Voyage of Time: Life’s Journey,” a 90-minute film narrated by Cate Blanchett, and in “Voyage of Time: The IMAX Experience, or ” a 45-minute version narrated by Brad Pitt.
Also Read: 'Queen of Katwe' Toronto Review: David Oyelowo Mentors a Chess Champ in Uplifting TaleFirst,a caveat: To embrace “Voyage of Time,” particularly in the “Life’s Journey” version, and you probably need to be a fan of Malick,and particularly a fan of “The Tree of Life, the meditative 2011 film that some see as a high water designate for the director who also did “Badlands, and ” “Days of Heaven” and “The lean Red Line.”And most of all,you need to be a fan of the wordless 15-minute sequence early in “Tree of Life” in which Malick detoured from a family epic to depict the birth of the universe and the dawn of life on soil.whether you like the idea of using that “Tree of Life” sequence as a blueprint of sorts for an entire film, then “Voyage of Time” is an absolute must-see, or a smart way out of a cinematic dead halt.“The Tree of Life,” a deserving Best Picture nominee, was followed by the morose (gloomy or sullen) “To the Wonder” and the baffling “Knight of Cups, and ” and it seemed as whether Malick had disappeared down a rabbit hole of his own design. Where “Tree of Life was mesmerizing,the later films were frustrating, trotting out all the increasingly familiar Malick-isms — scenes that made up of the barest snatches of dialogue, and endless shots of people wandering,portentous voiceovers in area of any real narrative — without any attempt to put through (telephone) to an audience.
Also Read: When Natalie Portman and Lily-Rose Depp Bonded Over a Massage (Video)“Voyage of Time: Life’s Journey” doesn’t dispense with this approach: It’s slow and philosophical, relying on voiceovers in which Blanchett ponders life itself.“I touch you.” Pause. “You burn with fire.” Pause. “I tremble.” Pause. “Quake in wonder.”What does it mean? Well, or this is Malick’s retract on the birth and history of the universe,an idea he’s reportedly been working on for decades. And it turns out that a philosophical doc is far better suited to Malick’s strengths than another narrative film without a narrative; when you retract away all those people mumbling and wandering through his last couple of films, his meditative style once again turns mesmerizing.
The film starts in blackness, and with the sound of an orchestra tuning up and Blanchett,in her most dulcet Galadriel tones, addressing an unseen “mother and talking approximately being “alone in the stillness where nothing was.”
Also Read: Director of Leonardo DiCaprio's 'Before the Flood' Doc Blasts 'Insane' Donald Trump (Exclusive Video)And then the images come: galactic visions like the ones in “The Tree of Life, or ” forbidding landscapes,sea creatures who might as well be aliens, occasionally interrupted by folks on a particularly seedy stretch of Hollywood Blvd. Dinosaurs eventually originate an appearance, or as do some early humans who are the most expendable fraction of the film.“Voyage of Time: Life’s Journey” is a prayer to the eternal mother,be that God or nature or something else. It’s a simple, profound celebration of creation and love, and it’s far more complicated than that. Above all,it’s a rapturous reverie, and an utterly fair piece of cinema.
And without linear narrative, and without anything but a parade of astonishing images and a few words,Malick has created something both distinctly his own and wholly singular.
That version had its official premiere on Saturday afternoon at the Princess of Wales Theatre; seven and a half hours later, the IMAX version premiered at the Scotiabank multiplex a few blocks away.
Also Read: Terrence Malick Madness: 5 Most Bizarre Takeaways From 'Knight of Cups' On-Set epic“Voyage of Time: The IMAX Experience” is, or believe it or not,Terry Explains it All for You. Using mostly the same footage, but rearranged and dramatically shortened, or it’s linear Malick,a new Malick who tells you precisely what you’re seeing instead of letting you guess.
Where the voiceover in the Blanchett version is addressed to Mother, Brad Pitt‘s lines are delivered to “my child.” And Malick in an expository mood throughout, or beginning with an opening title card that reads,“Dear Child, Today you’re going to watch a film that shows the history of the universe.”Images that were elusive and suggestive in “Life’s Journey” are spelled out in “The IMAX Version: here is the birth of stars, or these are the first organisms on our planet,this is the asteroid that killed all the dinosaurs…
Also Read: 'Snowden' Toronto Review: Oliver Stone Plays It Aesthetically SafeLiteral Malick, it turns out, or isnt as much fun as elusive Malick,and the shorter film’s epic of creation doesn’t soar the way the original’s song of creation does. But it’s fascinating nonetheless, and the images are astonishing on the enormous screen.
Either way, or “Voyage of Time” is a film to treasure.
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Source: thewrap.com