Celebrity excess is, at this point, ingrained in our society. If an A-lister chooses to live a calm, quiet life, most people get suspicious instead of accepting it. It's almost as if celebrities are encouraged to drink and party for our amusement until they can barely stand - it's obviously an unhealthy lifestyle, and yet, these people choose to live this way. After a while the question becomes, "Why do this to yourself?"
That's exactly the question that Terrence Malick's latest film, Knight of Cups, is asking. The film, starring Christian Bale and Natalie Portman, tries to dissect the culture of excess that has surrounded Hollywood celebrities, and if you thought it would ask these questions in a straightforward manner, then you don't know Malick. Take a look at the trailer:
The trailer is bizarre in a lot of ways (there's a heavy Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas vibe), but if the whole thing wasn't already weird enough, Deadline was given a cryptic, bizarrely allegorical synopsis:
"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?"
What exactly that synopsis means is anyone's guess, but at the very least, viewers won't have to wait long to find out: Knight of Cups is due in theaters Feb. 2015.
