When I heard Terrence Malick’s Knight of Cups starring Christian Bale would be opening at the Berlin Film Festival this year, I assumed we were in for some sort of medieval period piece in which Bale wore chain mail and slowly scanned sun-drenched fields of grain whilst having cathartic moments in a sunset. You know, the ole Malick special. Now the trailer has hit, it seems we have a contemporary tale about LA instead. I mean… I think?
We already knew the story dealt with temptations, celebrity, and excess. Now, we’ve gotten a look at Bale’s lead character, Rick, as he navigates those facets of the Hollywood fast-life, questioning who he’s become. We also have a somewhat cryptic synopsis to go with the fresh images: “Once there was a young prince whose father, the king of the East, sent him down into Egypt to find a pearl. But when the prince arrived, the people poured him a cup. Drinking it, he forgot he was the son of a king, forgot about the pearl and fell into a deep sleep. Rick’s father used to read this story to him as a boy. The road to the East stretches out before him. Will he set forth?” [Deadline]
Haha, cool story, Hansel. Knight of Cups also stars Natalie Portman, Brian Dennehy, Antonio Banderas, Teresa Palmer, and Cate Blanchett, and it certainly appears to be a feast for the senses. I guess the only question that remains is whether it will make any sense. The cool thing about Terrence Malick trailers is that if you just cut off the titles you’d watch one and think to yourself “Damn, these perfume commercials are really stepping up their game.”