Valley of the Gods

Valley of the Gods (2019). Josh Hartnett and John Malkovich star in this off-beat allegorical film directed by Polish director Lech Majewski. Likely filmed partly on location in Monument Valley, Utah. The movie echoes the stark Melancholia (2011) artistic style. Relatively hard to follow for those who prefer their movies straight forward and literally interpreted, Valley of the Gods is deliberately photographed with a beautiful and lush palette as a major backdrop. The storyline however is obtuse and surrealistic and becomes more of mood piece with inductive scenes that necessarily require flexible and adaptative mental osmosis where the mind brings together the slow paced pieces of an eclectic plot known mostly in the imagination of the director. If one can bring oneself to watch one of the worst movies in a number of ways, The Loneliest Planet (2011), however, Valley of the Gods could actually be a rather stimulating and creatively intriguing experience. Definitely not for everybody. It is watchable and preferably with a sense of patient wonder and a love of nature.

What Alan Watts penned, 'The Game', what the Wachowski's call, 'The Matrix'. It's a hard idea to capture tangibley without producing something quite literal. This films seemingly separate narratives, forms an allegory in an attempt to capture this universal material. Any effort towards this material deserves acknowledgement.

Sex with a rock. Not sex with The Rock, just A rock. A Navajo native awkwardly makes love to a mountain top, in what may symbolizes a connection with the land? Guessing is the number one activity in this absolutely bizarre sensual feast of a movie.

Owning a Terrence Malik Stanley Kubrik David Lynch surrealistic bent, complete with stunning cinematography, a sweet soundtrack, dedicated yet stunted acting, and puzzling tangents, "Valley of the Gods" is deliciously perfect for mushroom season. It also features Keir Dullea (you know who you are).

All through his varied screen career, John Malkovich has always been best when bad, and here he gets to flex his wicked muscle. As the world's richest dude and eccentric oddball, he gets to play tennis inside his palatial manor on a marble floor, catapult a rolls royce off a cliff, and mummy wrap a bunch of dogs. Or is it deer? Some kinda animal. Whatever the case, Malkovich musta had hisself a helluva time shooting this thing.

There is some semblance of a plot that involves a struggling writer, the prospect of a uranium mine, sacred Native ground, and a wacky dude playing god, but it exists merely to pose way more questions than answers. Do stay for the jaw dropping ending, which tries to wrap this crazy mess in some kind of circular fashion, if that is possible. It is not. But wow, what a heckuva swing!

Audacious to say the least, "Valley of the Gods" is an impressionistic head scratcher, and in the days of lazy cookie cutter flicks, that may not be such a bad thing.

• hipCRANK

This film is challenging, which is exactly what we need. It's time people learn to think for themselves. From a lot of the negative reviews here, it's clear most people are conditioned to the Hollywood 3 act structure and regurgitated story lines. Not everything has to make perfect sense. The world at large does not make sense. The cosmos does not makes sense. Childhood is over. Kudos to the filmmakers for raising the bar of filmmaking.

"Entwines Navajo lore with a reclusive trillionaire and his would-be biographer, creating a fascinating, mysterious and idiosyncratic vision of America."

Alternative take: ,,,creating a montage of beautiful, enigmatic scenes layered in Navajo mumbo jumbo and pretentious philosophical affectations.

I watched the whole thing. It took several stops and restarts because I had to stop and look around for my interest in it. Allegories abound, either far too abstract for me or so simple I resent making the trip, despite the very high quality of the production and the exquisite settings and scenery. I'm perfectly comfortable if this is a 'sour grapes' response.