Knight of Cups (film)

Knight of Cups
The poster resembles a tarot card, with a man upside down facing sideways at the top, haloed by the moon. Below him are California palm trees with the Santa Monica Mountains in the background. Above the man is the tagline: "A Quest", and below the palm trees are the credits and title.
Theatrical release poster
Directed byTerrence Malick
Written byTerrence Malick
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyEmmanuel Lubezki
Edited by
  • Geoffrey Richman
  • Keith Fraase
  • A. J. Edwards
Music byHanan Townshend
Production
companies
Distributed byBroad Green Pictures
Release dates
  • February 8, 2015 (2015-02-08) (Berlinale)
  • March 4, 2016 (2016-03-04) (United States)
Running time
118 minutes[1][2]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$1.1 million[3]

Knight of Cups is a 2015 American experimental drama film[4] written and directed by Terrence Malick and produced by Nicolas Gonda, Sarah Green and Ken Kao. The film features an ensemble cast, starring Christian Bale as the central character.

The film follows screenwriter Rick (Bale) on an odyssey through Los Angeles and Las Vegas as he undertakes a series of adventures with colorful figures, identified by seven tarot cards from the Major Arcana, with Bale as the Knight of Cups.[5][6] The film is loosely inspired by, and at times quotes directly from, the 1678 Christian allegory The Pilgrim's Progress, the Acts of Thomas passage "Hymn of the Pearl",[7] and Suhrawardi's A Tale of the Western Exile.[8]

After over two years in post-production, the film premiered in the main competition section at the 65th Berlin International Film Festival on February 8, 2015 to mixed reviews. It was released in the United States on March 4, 2016, by Broad Green Pictures[9] to more mixed reviews from critics and audiences alike.[10][11]

  1. ^ "KNIGHT OF CUPS (15)". British Board of Film Classification. March 4, 2016. Retrieved March 4, 2016.
  2. ^ "Terrence Malick's 'Knight of Cups' Gets a Long Synopsis and a Runtime". February 2, 2015. Archived from the original on February 4, 2015. Retrieved February 2, 2015.
  3. ^ "Knight of Cups". The Numbers. Retrieved May 11, 2016.
  4. ^ Smith, Nigel M (February 8, 2015). "Berlin: Christian Bale and Natalie Portman on Making 'Knight of Cups' With Terrence Malick". Indiewire. Retrieved January 3, 2015.
  5. ^ Bradshaw, Peter (February 8, 2015). "Berlin 2015 review: Knight of Cups – Malick's back! With the least interesting spiritual crisis in history". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved February 11, 2016.
  6. ^ migration (February 9, 2015). "Terrence Malick's Hollywood odyssey Knight of Cups sets Berlin fest alight". The Straits Times. Retrieved February 11, 2016.
  7. ^ "Berlin Film Review: 'Knight of Cups'". www.yahoo.com. February 8, 2015. Retrieved February 10, 2016.
  8. ^ "Interview: The Producers of 'Knight of Cups' Including Emerson Alumni Sarah Green". Emertainment Monthly. March 12, 2016. Retrieved March 22, 2016.
  9. ^ McNary, Dave (July 23, 2015). "Christian Bale's 'Knight of Cups' Gets March Release Date". Variety. Retrieved July 23, 2015.
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference Metacritic was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).