X
- 2017
- R
- Broad Green Pictures
- 2 h 9 m
- 2017
- R
- Broad Green Pictures
- 2 h 9 m
Summary In this modern love story set against the Austin, Texas music scene, two entangled couples — struggling songwriters Faye (Rooney Mara) and BV (Ryan Gosling), and music mogul Cook (Michael Fassbender) and the waitress whom he ensnares (Natalie Portman) — chase success through a rock ‘n’ roll landscape of seduction and betrayal.
Directed By: Terrence Malick
Written By: Terrence Malick
- 2017
- R
- Broad Green Pictures
- 2 h 9 m
- 2017
- R
- Broad Green Pictures
- 2 h 9 m
Song to Song
55
5.9
Where to Watch
Summary In this modern love story set against the Austin, Texas music scene, two entangled couples — struggling songwriters Faye (Rooney Mara) and BV (Ryan Gosling), and music mogul Cook (Michael Fassbender) and the waitress whom he ensnares (Natalie Portman) — chase success through a rock ‘n’ roll landscape of seduction and betrayal.
Directed By: Terrence Malick
Written By: Terrence Malick
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 34 Critic Reviews
55
47% Positive
16 Reviews
16 Reviews
35% Mixed
12 Reviews
12 Reviews
18% Negative
6 Reviews
6 Reviews
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 34 Critic Reviews
55
47% Positive
16 Reviews
16 Reviews
35% Mixed
12 Reviews
12 Reviews
18% Negative
6 Reviews
6 Reviews
Where Song to Song most distinguishes itself among Malick’s uniquely rich filmography is its abiding despair. It is his most pessimistic film since "Badlands."
There is...much to admire in Song to Song and much to argue with, including its ideas about pleasure and women. So go, fall into its embrace, resist its charms, argue. This may not be a film to love, but it is a film to see.
User Score
Mixed or Average
Based on 70 User Ratings
5.9
47% Positive
33 Ratings
33 Ratings
26% Mixed
18 Ratings
18 Ratings
27% Negative
19 Ratings
19 Ratings
User Score
Mixed or Average
Based on 70 User Ratings
5.9
47% Positive
33 Ratings
33 Ratings
26% Mixed
18 Ratings
18 Ratings
27% Negative
19 Ratings
19 Ratings
The best film of 2017 so far. Like most Malick films, it's a half hour longer than it needs to be, but that's a minor complaint considering its overall beauty.
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Malick continua nella direzione già intrapresa con Knight of Cups, confezionando un prodotto a livello visivo ineccepibile dal punto di vista artistico, pura poesia di immagini in movimento andando a toccare temi universali come l'amore, il perdono, il tradimento
il tutto in un film frammentato dal punto di vista narrativo e montato in modo magistrale a seconda del tema emotivo che si va a esplorare.
Più che un film, un viaggio emotivo
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Stick with Song to Song, and Malick’s elusiveness becomes surprisingly direct. Long, tense conversations are reduced to a few piercing exchanges. Difficult questions and answers are distilled to their philosophical essence. People clash, break apart, fall down, get back up and slowly, tentatively reunite.
Song To Song is one of the more accessible Malick films as of late, succeeding largely in part thanks to a cast who plays their dramatic beats like poetry in motion.
Put simply, Song to Song lacks the soul of Malick’s best work.
Song to Song is a painful movie to watch, not only because it’s so dithery and overlong, but because it reveals Malick to be a filmmaker far more interested in surfaces than his vaunted intellectual depth would suggest.
I call it cinematic freebasing. It’s tired, repetitious, superficial, dreary and done to death before, by the same director, movie to movie and—forgive me for the unpardonable pun — song by song.
The movie is the best movie from Terrence Malick, combines drama with humor and some musical things, ryan gosling performance is amazing and michael fassbender shines in this movie, both deserve the nomination for the next oscars, in conclusion Song To Song actually is one of the best movie of the year and one of the best movies from Ryan Gosling.
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"The world wants to be deceived"
Song to Song is not really a movie, but more of an experience. The feeling of adventure and freedom like in most Malick movies. Something I felt was missing from "Knights of Cups". While still not having a straight forward narrative that audience members are gonna hate, just like how Malick isn't for everyone.
The film captures life of are characters daily activities, shot a very long time ago.
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A dream-like kaleidoscopic descent into the madness of Austin, Texas, and the relationships on display in the film, Song to Song feels akin to a short film from Stan Brakhage or Dziga Vertov's Man with a Movie Camera. Echoes of Jean-Luc Godard at his most experimental can also be heard with Malick standing alongside Godard as both extend a middle finger to audiences that wish to receive a normal viewing experience. With a loose connection of images and a free-wheeling approach to scenes and cutting, Song to Song is most certainly lyrical and poetic, but it mostly feels hollow. Its themes are compelling, but haphazardly composed and never rise to the level of importance bestowed upon them by the distant and experimental nature of the film. As a result, it is a hell of a tough watch and not the easiest 129 minutes of filmgoing I have ever experienced. With loose connections to be drawn between scenes, there is a common thread, but there is so much fluff and excess surrounding it, that core seems to get lost in the shuffle.
A deeply spiritual filmmaker by nature, Malick infuses Song to Song with a lot of overt references to God, human nature, and sin. Juxtaposing scenes of Cook (Michael Fassbender) and Rhonda (Natalie Portman) engaging in a three-way with a prostitute with that very same prostitute telling Rhonda that she wants God to come save her, it is clear that there is a deeply religious film. It is through this context that the film's core themes reveal themselves: temptation, love, and experience. Explaining in a voice-over early on that she wishes to experience everything, Faye (Rooney Mara) does just that. She has a highly conventional relationship with BV (Ryan Gosling), a solely physical affair with Cook, and even a few lesbian encounters. Yet, none of these fulfill her. As her initial voice-over noted, she needed every experience to be above and beyond its normal level for her to actual feel it ("the sex needed to be violent"), or else the moment would drift away and she would float on to the next one.
Yet, by the end, she has come back. She gives into temptation with Cook, but comes back to BV at the end and is willing to toss away experiencing life in Austin and replace it with living life with BV in small town America. Faye's journey in this film is one played out in real life and film many times before, though not nearly as dressed up as in Song to Song. She is a girl who is unhappy with herself, as shown in her conversations with her father, and is unsure of what she wants. As a result, she tries everything. She never says no, even when she is hesitant or unsure and regardless of who can be hurt by her actions. Instead, she flies by the seat of her pants and dives head first into the pool of life. Unfortunately for she realizes nearly too late that what truly made her happy and feel in touch with the world was what she had initially and now, she must find her way back to that life and that experience by returning to BV. Considering how dense the film itself is, for it to be able to be boiled down - mostly - into just that description really speaks as to how fluff-filled Song to Song is at 129 minutes.
Malick does add depth, however, with that aforementioned religious parallels. For the film, the character of Cook often comes to represent temptation and could be described as being Satan-esque, if not Satan himself. Presenting temptation to everybody in the film, he drives them all of their pre-ordained paths by offering them a world of experience. For Faye, he promises sexual pleasure that she had never before felt with Cook being adventurous and a generous lover. For BV, he promises to help him make a record deal that would allow him to have the world (classic Lucifer stuff here). For Rhonda, he promises an escape from her job as a waitress and to experience a world she had never been in before. Yet, it all backfires. Faye continues to jump from experience-to-experience and hits bottom when she realizes her father is disappointed in her. BV continues to struggle as a musician and realizes that Cook filed copyrights for BV's songs under Cook's name only, essentially stealing his work. Rhonda is driven into depression and driven away from her mother Miranda (Holly Hunter) to the point that she is suicidal. Promising the world to all that he encounters, Cook frequently engages in sexual sins with three-ways and intense promiscuity while corrupting everybody he touches and dragging them down in hellfire along with himself. As Rhonda notes in a voice-over, he is a destructive force. Yet, Cook embraces his tempting ways, explaining that "people want to be deceived". In essence, he is merely giving people what they want, so what is wrong with that? He is a selfish and harmful being, whether or not he is actually Satan. He is a man that seeks to drive people off the path with empty promises with the sole goal of fulfilling his own needs and **** the life out of their soul.
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why are you changing your story..
Song To Song
The procedure to convey the message has always been convoluted and thought-provoking for the audience but if the resultant outcome isn't worth the effort invested, it turns into disappointment. Terrence Malick is no short on execution but the script, that is not something fresh, in fact a typical story merely retold through Malick's lenses. On performance, the feature doesn't rely upon single actor in fact, each individual factors in as a supporting cast where even though Natalie Portman, Ryan Gosling and Cate Blanchett are good in it, Rooney Mara and Michael Fassbender steals the show. Song To Song has everything on its side i.e. beautiful cinematography, amazing background score, stunning visuals, brilliant execution and stellar performance, except a good old tale.
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There are some directors that are lionized by critics to the extent that can seem to do no wrong. Malick is such a director. His reputation may have once been deserved, but surly not now. Song To Song may be the nail in the coffin of his career as far as I'm concerned. Just terrible.
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Production Company
Buckeye Pictures,
FilmNation Entertainment,
Sin Sentido Films,
Waypoint Entertainment
Release Date Mar 17, 2017
Duration 2 h 9 m
Rating R
Tagline Love. Obsession. Betrayal.
Awards
International Online Cinema Awards (INOCA)
• 5 Nominations
Edinburgh International Film Festival
• 1 Nomination
Golden Trailer Awards
• 1 Nomination
