Knight of Cups (2015)

A writer indulging in all that Los Angeles and Las Vegas has to offer undertakes a search for love and self via a series of adventures with six different women.

Director:

Terrence Malick

Writer:

Terrence Malick

Stars:

Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Natalie Portman

4 wins & 9 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Christian Bale	...	Rick
Cate Blanchett	...	Nancy
Natalie Portman	...	Elizabeth
Brian Dennehy	...	Joseph
Antonio Banderas	...	Tonio
Freida Pinto	...	Helen
Wes Bentley	...	Barry
Isabel Lucas	...	Isabel
Teresa Palmer	...	Karen
Imogen Poots	...	Della
Peter Matthiessen	...	Christopher
Armin Mueller-Stahl	...	Fr. Zeitlinger
Cherry Jones	...	Ruth
Patrick Whitesell	...	Agent #1
Rick Hess	...	Agent #2

Storyline

Rick is a screenwriter living in Los Angeles, California. While he's successful in his career, his life feels empty. Haunted by the death of one brother and the dire circumstances of the other, he finds temporary solace in the Hollywood excess that defines his existence. Women provide a distraction to the daily pain he must endure, and every encounter that comes his way brings him closer to finding his place in the world. The film is divided into eight chapters (each named after a tarot card, except for the final chapter Freedom), plus a prologue, each loosely based around the central character's relationship with somebody in his life..

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Plot Keywords:

tarot cards | movie industry | brother brother relationship | father son relationship | walking on a beach | 

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Taglines:

Dream-like quest for the meaning of life.

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for some nudity, sexuality and language

Did You Know?

Trivia

In an interview with Belgian newspaper "Het Laatste Nieuws" in April 2015, Joel Kinnaman said that he had worked on a seventeen-page monologue for three weeks, and when he arrived on set, writer and director Terrence Malick said: "If y'all have something to say, it's not important what y'all say, but I just want a slice of life." Kinnaman said that the script was utterly worthless, and that he had to hire three acting coaches just to decipher it. According to Kinnaman, the dialogue was made for someone out of the 1940s, and that nobody uses such language anymore. There was also no background information at all, and the actors and actresses just had to figure it all out by themselves. He wasn't too fond of Christian Bale either. He said that Bale just walked off when Kinnaman was about to do his dialogue with him, shaming him in front of two hundred extras. Kinnaman said that he had never felt so embarrassed in his whole life. The final straw was when filming a scene, Malick was thirty meters away filming a pink dog instead. That's when Kinnaman said "fu-ck this shit", and that's the last they heard of him on the set of the movie.

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Quotes

[last lines]
Rick: Begin.

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Crazy Credits

"For optimal sound reproduction, the producers of this film recommend that you play it loud." (In the opening credits.)

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Connections

References Savages (2012)

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Soundtracks

Farewell Mix from an Old Fridge Before It Sank into the Sea
Composed Arsenije Jovanovic
Performed by Arsenije Jovanovic
Courtesy of Arsenije Jovanovic

User Reviews

A subtle degree of existentialism which grows on you the longer the movie runs

It takes a while of watching the movie before starting to appreciate it. However, the longer you get, the more it starts growing on you. Its modernistic style is certainly not for everyone - but the combination of beautiful pictures and captivating music as well as the subtle messages of the flick, is in my opinion brilliant. As with many modernistic pieces it requires that you as a spectator participate, which is very giving, that is, if you actually do it. Then you will experience the emptiness we as human beings have to wrestle with: the apathetic nature of just following the flow: the slumber we experience the moment we stop being active and stop shaping our existence. The movie is a reminder not to fall in slumber, but to wake up and see the pearl.

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English German Spanish Serbian

Release Date:

4 March 2016 (USA)

Also Known As:

Knight of Cups

Filming Locations:

Burbank, California, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$60,551, 6 March 2016

Gross USA:

$566,006

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$1,026,288

Company Credits

Production Co:

Dogwood Films, Waypoint Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

118 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1