MovieChat Forums > To the Wonder (2013) Discussion > Video clip - Bardem's 'Christ before me ...

Video clip - Bardem's 'Christ before me ..' monologue (with 911 detail)

posted 11 years ago by HarryPowell
6 replies | jump to latest

I guess this might be spoilery if you haven't yet seen the film:
http://youtu.be/Vqc20CO4zqs

Even standalone, as in the link above, this is an achingly sad and beautiful epiphanic sequence. As good as anything Malick has done before.

I just noticed the number on the first house Bardem's character enters is 911. Interesting detail, especially when recalling this:

"Terrence Malick's Wife Makes Bizarre Statement About 9/11 on Eve of Anniversary"
The Hollywood Reporter - http://t.co/oLv8q3Yk
And I love how nearly all the comments disagree with the negative angle the article takes. I'm with them.

[–] jab670 11 years ago

I was there when she said that. It was a tad awkward but I think it was clear that she meant after 9/11, not 9/11 itself.

But yes, I noticed this too. The film definitely has a sort of self-criticism of America. Even down to the perfect wardrobe design and color palate. Olga makes a lot of comments about "2 become 1" and this is represented throughout as purple, which is composed of red and blue - two colors that appear independently throughout the film as well. And those happen to be both the American and French colors. Except the former has more of the individualist mindset that Affleck embodies and the latter culture is more communal/social mindset.

[–] thepalestfire 11 years ago

What a mean-spirited article.

[–] the_village_drunk 11 years ago

Don't have an opinion on the 9/11 thing, but yes, I agree that sequence you linked is definitely as good as anything Malick has ever done.

Right now I'm having a hell of a time processing To The Wonder, it's just so different, but that whole sequence, the music, the images, the words...it just floors me every time.

[–] jab670 11 years ago

If you like the sequence, you should read (at least) the Wikipedia page about Gorecki's Symphony 3, if you haven't already. It's the music in this scene. Other parts of the symphony 3 are used in the film, as well as in The Tree of Life. Its quite a powerful allusion that only enhances the films, and not used as a crutch.

[–] 11 years ago

[deleted]

[–] KennethWasHere 10 years ago

I maintain that one of the bigger failings of this film was its not being about Bardem's character. He and the life he led (what we see of it) was much more interested than this mundane love triangle (abnormally beautifully shot though it may be).

He should have been the "A" story.

The bitter thinkers buy their tickets to go find God like a piggy in a fair