The Seagull

First Hit: An OK version of an Anton Chekhov play.

Unrequited love, that is what this film and story is about. There are amusing ways it is shown. The matriarch of this story, Irina (Annette Bening) is a publicity hound and loves the adoration she receives from the audiences she performs in front of. She has a younger lover, a playwright, named Boris Trigorin (Corey Stoll) who is weak of spirit and Irina’s commanding strength controls him.

While visiting Irina’s summer home and home of her brother Sorin (Brian Dennehy), Boris falls for Nina (Saoirse Ronan), which makes Irina’s son Konstantin (Billy Howle) jealous because he loves Nina. Konstantin spends most of his time trying to get approval as a writer and attention from his mother Irina.

Masha (Elisabeth Moss) the daughter of property caretakers Polina and Shamrayev (Mare Winningham and Glenn Fleshler respectively), longs for Konstantin but he cannot stand her. Masha is being pursued by a poor teacher and she cannot stand him.

Another unrequited relationship is Polina longing for Doctor Dorn (Jon Tenney) but he wants no part of her.

This is the entire basis of this story and film. It’s appeal is that almost everyone has had this sort of unrequited love in their life.

However, so much at the same time is also the weakness of this film. It is almost not real.

Benning is strong as the ego-based actress that needs to believe she’s the best looking person in the room and is lauded by everyone in Russia. Ronan is divine as Nina. She is one of the best parts of this film and her confusion about her love for Boris is wonderful. Dennehy is good as the brother that is ill. Howle is good as the son who is filled with sadness and pain of rejections from both his mother and Nina. Moss is particularly funny and dramatic. Especially when she’s drinking at the table with Boris and says, all women drink, I just do it openly. Stoll is very good as the subservient man to Irina and his short-lived lust for Nina. Winningham is strong as the caretaker’s wife who also lusts after someone other than her husband. Flesher is especially good as a man that doesn’t want to be ordered around by Irina. Tenney is strong as the doctor who wants someone and rejects someone else. Stephen Karam wrote a strong version of this Chekhov play. Michael Mayer directed this drama with a sure hand.

Overall: I think this story is relatable in this format and overall it worked.

Knight of Cups

First Hit:  An interesting, esoteric and ethereal film of a man reflecting on his place in the world through his relationships.

This film is not and will not be everyone’s cup of tea. In general it is about self-discovery, our purpose in this life, and understanding ourselves individually and collectively.

Those who value self-reflection and contemplating their own life as a way to see and better understand their current place and have patience for the film to unfold in its own way may like it.

One particular sequence early on with Ben Kingsley’s voice over states something like; it takes us so long to begin to see the depth of who we are because we spend most of our time responding to outside stimuli. During this sequence the images on the screen are of a young Rick (Christian Bale) on the beach with his family and in other settings.

The film is divided into 8 named sequences. Each, except the final section called Freedom, are named after Tarot cards, as is the name of the film. The "Knight of Cups" is the heart filled Knight in the Tarot deck. Although the Knight is on a horse (strength), because the horse is in a walking position, the Knight and the other representations on the card represent calmness and being ruled by the heart when important decisions are made.

Rick goes through the film in this etheric way, little outside emotion is seen, and each scene gives a view into his feelings. The people speaking to him fade in and out and one can begin to sense that Rick is Hollywood connected.

Each of these sections, which reflect the names of the cards are about the women he’s been with, his angry and lost brother Barry (Wes Bentley), his controlling, angry, and demanding father Joseph (Brian Dennehy) (their section is named “The Hangman”), and an immoral playboy Tonio (Antonio Banderas) (his section is named “The Hermit”).

My sense was that the latter was Rick’s own reflection of his playboy ways. The women are Della (Imogen Poots) whose section is “The Moon” and she is young and rebellious. The section called “Judgement” is played by his former wife, a physician, Nancy (Cate Blanchett). “The Tower” is played by Freida Pinto as a serene model named Helen. Teresa Palmer, as a spirited playful stripper named Karen is the section called “The High Priestess”. Elizabeth (Natalie Portman) is “Death”, the person Rick wronged. And finally, “Freedom”, an innocent Isabel (Isabel Lucas) who assists him in seeing ahead.

All of these stories are mixed and matched with life events, like robbery, heated arguments, disagreements, moments of bliss, and each of them lying on a backdrop of natural reflective scenes of Rick in the desert and on the beach at sunset.

Bale says little in the film, much of his thoughts and feelings are shared through visuals of him solitarily reflecting, with others but almost always on the edge of being disengaged, and the scenes outside himself, what he’s seeing. Because he had no physical script to work from, he was genuinely perfect for the role because of his ability to be silent yet communicative at the same time. Bentley is very strong as the angry, lost brother. Dennehy was perfect as the father. It was so nice to see him again. Poots was very good as Della. She clearly provided an edge to Rick’s life. Blanchett was very strong as his former physician wife. Her compassion to the people she worked on was amazing. Banderas was great as the playboy and during the A-List Hollywood party, he was like a kid in a candy store. Pinto was elegant in her role as a serene presence in Rick’s life. The model shoot was very realistic. Palmer was strong as the enticing playful stripper. Portman was extremely strong as a tortured married woman who both loved and felt wronged by Rick. Lucas was very good in representing a path forward. Terrence Malick wrote and directed this film. His strengths are getting creatively strong improvisational performances from his cast. The visual shots in the film are often arrestingly beautiful.

Overall:  As I said, this film isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but it was mine.