3 French Posters For Terrence Malick's 'To The Wonder'

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by Edward Davis
December 24, 2012 10:15 AM
8 Comments

It's nice to see the Yeti that is Terrence Malick come out of hiding these last few years. Ever since "The Tree Of Life," Malick's not only been working at an uncharacteristically quick clip, he's actually been finishing films at a rapid pace. His latest, the romance drama "To The Wonder" is already in the can (here's a recent French trailer). Starring Ben Affleck, Olga Kurylenko, Rachel McAdams and Javier Bardem (and several cameos, some of which never made the film), reviews from the Toronto International Film Festival and Venice were decidely divided -- some accusing the film to be a culmination of Malick's worst tendencies, others describing it as a work of beauty.

Our review from Venice was one of the positive ones calling the picture a "raw and heartfelt film of loss and longing." Here's a more update synopsis:

Although they are known in the later, the passion that Neil and Marina lived in Wonder - Le Mont-Saint-Michel - erases the lost years. Neil is sure to have found the woman of his life. Beautiful, humorous, originally from Ukraine, Marina is divorced and the mother of a 10 year old girl, Tatiana. now the couple is located in Oklahoma. Their relationship is weakened Marina feels trapped. In this small American community, she seeks advice from another expatriate, a Catholic priest named Quintana. The man has his own problems: he doubted his vocation ... Marina decided to return to France with his daughter. Neil console with Jane, an old friend that he attaches more. When he learns that nothing goes to Marina, he finds himself torn between two women in his life. Father Quintana continues to struggle to find faith. Faced with two very different forms of love, the two men are facing the same issues.

"To The Wonder" lands in U.K. theaters in February and April 12 in the U.S. [Metro via Film Stage]

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More: To the Wonder, Terrence Malick, Olga Kurylenko, Ben Affleck, Rachel McAdams, Javier Bardem

8 Comments

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P. | December 25, 2012 5:55 AMReply

I read that article, but it's weird. As there are 2 women in the film, and the character played by Rachel M. (inspired apparently by his current american wife) isn't the central character and is just in one small sequence of the film. So I suppose the dedication is to the woman who inspired the character played by Olga (and this woman is apparently Malick's former wife Michele who was french) because the movie is almost entirely focused on her. But maybe Malick wants this to remain unclear to us so that the title can mean several things...
oogle monster | December 24, 2012 1:15 PMReply

Everything about this film comes off as uninspired compared to TOL. Even the posters.
P. | December 24, 2012 11:37 AMReply

In fact the french title only sounds like it's a dedication to the "Merveille". It doesn't sound at all like the "Merveille" is a place (like it does with the english title).
So maybe it was important for Malick to show in the title that, for some reason, he dedicates his movie to Mont Saint Michel.
DKM | December 24, 2012 4:37 PM

Actually it seems the "wonder" refers to three things: the Mont St Michel itself aka "la merveille de l'occident" (Occident's marvel/Occident's wonder); the "merveille" in french is a part of Mont St Michel's abbey (where monks used to live); the "wonder" is Malick's muse/wife. In any case "vers la merveille" would have been a better fit indeed (hence my first comment). French speaking readers (?) can read this : http://www.premiere.fr/Cinema/News-Cinema/To-the-Wonder-pourquoi-le-dernier-Malick-devient-A-la-Merveille-en-VF-3478526
P. | December 24, 2012 11:26 AMReply

The problem is not the word "Merveille". The problem is the " Ã ".
" Ã la Merveille " is a title that doesn't make much sense in french... It sounds good in english, but the french translation doesn't sound good at all...
Dkm | December 24, 2012 10:24 AMReply

Just gotta say it ... "a la merveille" ? who came up with this literal/google translation ? that title is so weird.
DKM | December 24, 2012 4:31 PM

Just to be clear : I am french. And as P. pointed above the problem is not "merveille" but the whole expression.
JJ | December 24, 2012 11:18 AM

La Merveille is the actual name of the place in France. "The Wonder" is the translation.