Entertainment

Photo: The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

Actress Romina Mondello poses at the photo call of the film 'To The Wonder' at the 69th edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, Sunday, Sept. 2, 2012. (AP Photo/Joel Ryan)

Terrence Malick asked his actors to do some pretty hefty reading and provided them with meticulously detailed character sketches before filming "To The Wonder."

Actress Olga Kurylenko, who plays the film's central role, said Malick asked her to read three novels from the Russian canon, "The Brothers Karamazov," ''The Idiot," and "Anna Karenina."

"I had a couple of months for that," Kurylenko told a news conference Saturday before the film's world premiere in competition at the Venice Film Festival.

"It was great to go back and read those books that I read as a child, but probably didn't understand."

But while the preparation was in-depth, what actually appears on the screen in terms of narrative detail and dialogue is very spare.

The viewer sees Marina, a Parisian single mother played by Kurylenko, as she and Neil, an American abroad portrayed by Ben Affleck, fall passionately in love against the backdrop of monumental Paris and among the muddy tidal banks of Mont Saint Michel.

"He would tell me, throw away the words, don't speak, move them," Kurylenko said.

"Sometimes silence is stronger than words. I think that is what is remarkable about him. He is able to tell you the story, to give you the emotions, through the body, through the silence. ... You don't need the words. The message is still perceived, you still feel it in your gut."

Known as elusive and press-shy, Malick skipped the premiere in Venice. His producers said is working on new projects that will continue to push boundaries.