From time to time it’s good to remind the world (and ourselves) that we are The Playlist, and in addition to being movie lovers, we are also obsessed with music, specifically movie music. It also helps when a director gives us good reason to take a long look at their musical choices — i.e. by making a movie about music. Thankfully, impressionistic mastermind Terrence Malick has finally done so with his ephemeral, soul-searching new movie, “Song To Song.” It’s a film, like much of his work has been, about the search for divinity amid the tumult of life – only this time, the search goes… song to song.
The director’s latest isn’t our favorite (check out our C-grade review), but it’s nevertheless hard not to be dazzled by his visual bravado and the raw emotion that he can elicit from a waltzing camera (courtesy of his longtime partner Emmanuel Lubezki). Much of which comes from the outlandish beauty that Malick seems to see in the ordinary mundaneness of existence (which, it must be said, is skewed some by the outlandishly beautiful people he casts). When Malick is at his best, his contemplative cinematography resonates as though we are all, in his patient hands, bearing witness to the divinity of everyday life. But just as key to his success, and so often overlooked, is the evocative music — and the provocative silence — that so perfectly harmonize with his whirling visual aesthetic.
So to celebrate “Song To Song” we have set out here to explore the music that’s most crucial to Malick’s films, the songs that most moved us, the motifs most vital, and, generally, the best Malick Mixtape we can put together.
Gary Joshua Garrison 