An official poster released after the film’s Berlin premiere.
A new, official poster has been released for Terrence Malick’s eagerly anticipated seventh feature, Knight of Cups (2015), his latest after 2012’s To the Wonder.
Though the plot was once only known as being about “a man, temptations, celebrity, and excess”, a new official synopsis has been released:
“Rick is a slave to the Hollywood system. He is addicted to success but simultaneously despairs at the emptiness of his life. He is at home in a world of illusions but seeks real life. Like the tarot card of the title, Rick is easily bored and needs outside stimulation. But the Knight of Cups is also an artist, a romantic and an adventurer.
In Terrence Malick’s seventh film a gliding camera once again accompanies a tormented hero on his search for meaning. Once again a voiceover is laid over images which also seek their own authenticity. And once again Malick seems to put the world out of joint. His symphonic flow of images contrasts cold, functional architecture with the ageless beauty of nature. Rick’s internal monologue coalesces with the voices of the women who cross his path, women who represent different principles in life: while one lives in the real world, the other embodies beauty and sensuality. Which path will Rick choose? In the city of angels and the desert that surrounds it, will he find his own way?”
The film recently received its world premiere at the 65th Berlin Film Festival, where it courted typically divisive reviews. Some were positive, others negative, with Variety’s Justin Chang describing it a “star-studded, never-a-dull-moment cinematic oddity [that] represents another flawed but fascinating reframing of man’s place in the modern world.” The film stars Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett and Natalie Portman.
Knight of Cups will be released in the UK on 1 January 2016.
Sources: Little White Lies, Variety
Words by Edward Frost