Terrence Malick Overview

Trained in philosophy at Harvard under Stanley Cavell before the cinema at AFI, Malick’s slim oeuvre foregrounds this inheritance: each of his four features to date is a period piece of American history; each trains an eye on the natural world... [more]

Trained in philosophy at Harvard under Stanley Cavell before the cinema at AFI, Malick’s slim oeuvre foregrounds this inheritance: each of his four features to date is a period piece of American history; each trains an eye on the natural world (and its relationship with humans and human technologies); each utilizes voice-over and contrapuntal editing to complicate the films interest in identity and self and other and words and our contradictory river of a world. All four films are unique and stunning—all feature ravishing widescreen location photography and strong dramatic “arcs” (if you will) and all move lyrically from one episode to another—but it could be argued that, like many great artists, Malick has been forging one film, punctuated by credit sequences, across four decades, through time. Having worked as a “script doctor” in Hollywood, Malick made his first film, Badlands, in 1973. His second film, Days of Heaven, debuted in 1978. Both films were (and are) highly regarded as seminal American works of the decade. Malick then took a twenty year hiatus from film to teach at M.I.T. and the Sorbonne before 1998’s loose adaptation of James Jones’ WWII novel, The Thin Red Line. The film garnered Academy Award nominations, if no wins or much box office success. For one week in December 2005, a 150-minute cut of The New World screened in New York City; the film was pulled for re-editing and released in a 135-minute iteration the following month. The New World was an immediate cult favorite as most mainstream critics had little praise to offer the film. However, the “die-hard” fans, and a few critics, championed the film well past its cultural expiration date. In October 2008, Malick released an “extended cut” (at 172 minutes) with little fanfare outside its original enthusiasts. His fifth film, Tree of Life, starring Brad Pitt and Sean Penn, is expected in late 2009. [show less]