Song To Song explores themes of love, loss and betrayal while following two intersecting love stories set against the backdrop of the Austin, TX music scene. BV (Ryan Gosling) is a talented musician with a promising career, and his supportive girlfriend Faye (Rooney Mara) is constantly encouraging him to follow his dreams. Faye is also trying to find herself—she’s a realtor one moment, and a dog walker the next, always trying to figure out what she wants to do with her life. While she loves BV, she’s also having a secret affair with his manager/promoter Cook (Michael Fassbender). The trio are great friends, but BV is blissfully unaware of his girlfriend’s infidelity, and the fact that his world is about to come crashing down. The love triangle gets even more complicated as Cook meets young waitress Rhonda (Natalie Portman) and the two fall madly in love.
The story is told primarily though inner-dialogue narration, rapidly jumping from the thoughts inside of one of the character’s heads to those inside of another. Each of these men and women have hopes, dreams and desires that they don’t necessarily communicate to one another. They tend to bottle up their feelings until things ultimately come to a boil.
I have never been much of a Terrence Malick fan, and if I had realized he had written/directed this film, I probably would not have requested it for review. I find his films to be more about style over substance. They tend to be visually creative and artistic, but often lack a cohesive story or narrative, and this film is no different. As I watched Song To Song, I found myself having PTSD flashbacks to the year I struggled through The Tree Of Life (only because it was one of the year’s Best Picture nominees).
Song to Song is visually interesting, in both the good and the bad sense. Scenes are often framed in a non-traditional manner, with the actor or actress off-center, or the camera at an odd angle. Scenes quickly cut between extreme close-ups of faces or other body parts and more traditional wide shots. The picture sometimes looks warped and a bit off—it’s like a fish eye lens was used, or the picture was framed for a different aspect ratio and then squished or stretched to create the film’s 2:39 ratio. While this can be interesting to watch at first, it kind of overstays its welcome by the end of two hours.
The film takes place in some picturesque locations—some of thee stately homes the characters reside in look like shots out of Architectural Digest. The homes are sparsely decorated and furnished, allowing the natural beauty to come alive. This is contrasted with the more urban shots of the streets and live venues.
There is a lot of live concert footage blended into the film as some of the conversations and arguments between the characters takes place backstage. The film makes extensive use of hand-held cameras, allowing the cameramen to weave through crowds and mosh pits, making the viewer feel more a part of these live musical events. The audio during these scenes is quite well done, surrounding the viewer with the ambiance of the live venue. This is also evident in another scene that takes place at a football stadium.
Overall, I found the story, if there was actually one, difficult to follow. It jumps back and forth in time, and Faye seems to have a different hair color in every scene. It often felt like the actors were just doing improv, and then these overly-pretentious inner-monologues were added later on. It seemed like these constant inner-dialogues were supposed to be these profound revelations, but ultimately they come off as incoherent babbling and rambling that provide no through-story or plot. The overall feeling of the film was more of an experimental art piece rather than a film with well-defined characters and story arc. It’s a same such a talented cast was wasted on this movie.
The Blu-ray’s visual presentation is nearly flawless. No matter the angle or how close-up, the picture is always crisp, clean and detailed. The audio makes the live venue scenes really come to life, but sometimes the dialogue and inner-monologues are a little difficult to make out. The only bonus feature included on the disc is a short 2-minute behind-the-scenes featurette with some of the cast and crew. The Blu-ray disc comes packed in standard keepcase without a slipcover. No digital copy of the film is included.
What’s Included:
- 1080p / Widescreen 2:39:1
- Audio: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
- Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish
Extras:
- The Music Behind the Movie (2:01)
The cast, producers and musical guests talk about the premise of the film as well as filming at a live music festival in Austin. Includes behind-the-scene footage and interviews with producer Sarah Green, actress Natalie Portman (“Rhonda”), actor Michael Fassbender (“Cook”), producer Ken Kao, music supervisor Lauren Marie Mikus, musician Cole Alexander (Black Lips), and singer/songwriter Lykke Li. - Also From Broadgreen Pictures (36:55)
Collection of trailers for other films from Broadgreen Pictures. Play All or select from trailers for Bad Santa 2, The Lost City of Z, The Dressmaker, The Neon Demon, 99 Homes, Last Days in the Desert, The Dark Horse, Song of Lahore, Break Point, Eden, I Smile Back, Learning To Drive, A Walk in the Woods, Knight of Cups, New Life, The Infiltrator and Wish Upon.
Final Thoughts:
Malick Fans Only
(Others Rent First)
Like many of writer/director Terrence Malick’s previous films, Song To Song chooses style over substance. While it is often visually striking and interesting, the film lacks well-defined characters and a coherent story. The Blu-ray presentation looks amazing and sounds great at times, but the disc only contains a single two-minute behind-the-scenes bonus feature. I can’t recommend this film to the general public, though the die-hard Malick fans will probably enjoy it for the director’s usual visual feast. Those curious should rent it first rather than making a blind buy.