Malick's films explore themes such astranscendence and conflicts between reason and instinct as well as nature versus nurture. They typically have broad philosophical and spiritual overtones and employ meditativevoice-overs by their characters. Malick's style has polarized scholars and audiences; many praise his films for their lavish cinematography and aesthetics, but others fault them for lacking plot and character development. His work has nonetheless ranked highly in retrospective decade-end and all-time polls.
Malick had two younger brothers, Chris and Larry. Larry Malick was a guitarist who went to study in Spain withAndrés Segovia in the late 1960s. In 1968, Larry intentionally broke his own hands due to pressure over his musical studies.[13] Their father Emil went to Spain to help Larry, but his son died shortly after, possibly by suicide.[14] The early death of Malick's younger brother has been explored and referenced in his filmsThe Tree of Life (2011) andKnight of Cups (2015).[15][16]
Malick's first feature-length work as a director wasBadlands, anindependent film starringMartin Sheen andSissy Spacek as a young couple on a crime spree in the 1950s Midwest. It was influenced by the crimes of convicted teenage spree killerCharles Starkweather.[20] Malick raised half the budget by approaching people outside of the industry, including doctors and dentists, and by contributing $25,000 from his personal savings. The rest was raised by executive producerEdward R. Pressman.[21][22] After a troubled production that included many crew members leaving halfway through,Badlands drew raves upon its premiere at theNew York Film Festival. As a result,Warner Bros. bought distribution rights for three times its budget.[23]
Malick's second film was theParamount-producedDays of Heaven, about a love triangle that develops in the farm country of theTexas Panhandle in the early 20th century. Production began in the fall of 1976 inAlberta, Canada. The film was mostly shot during thegolden hour, with primarily natural light. Much like Malick's first feature,Days of Heaven had a lengthy and troubled production, with several members of the production crew quitting before shooting was finished, mainly due to disagreements with Malick's idiosyncratic directorial style.[24] The film likewise had a troubled post-production phase.Billy Weber and Malick spent two years editing it, during which they experimented with unconventional editing and voice-over techniques once they realized the picture they had set out to make would not fully work.[25]
Days of Heaven was finally released in 1978 to mostly positive responses from critics.[26][27] Its cinematography was widely praised, although some found its story lackluster.[28][29] InThe New York Times, Harold C. Schonberg wrote that it "is full of elegant and striking photography; and it is an intolerably artsy, artificial film."[30] It won theAcademy Award for Best Cinematography and the prize for Best Director at the1979 Cannes Film Festival. Its reputation has since improved,[31] having been voted one of the 50 greatest American films ever made in a 2015 critics' poll published by theBBC.[32]
Following the release ofDays of Heaven, Malick began developing a project for Paramount, titledQ, that explored the origins of life on earth. During pre-production, he suddenly moved to Paris and disappeared from public view for years.[33] During this time, he wrote a number of screenplays, includingThe English Speaker, aboutJosef Breuer's analysis ofAnna O.; adaptations ofWalker Percy's novelThe Moviegoer andLarry McMurtry'sThe Desert Rose;[33] a script aboutJerry Lee Lewis; and a stage adaptation of the Japanese filmSansho the Bailiff that was to be directed by Polish filmmakerAndrzej Wajda, in addition to continuing work on theQ script.[34] AlthoughQ has never been made, Malick's work on the project provided material for his filmThe Tree of Life[35] and eventually became the basis forVoyage of Time. Jack Fisk, a longtime production designer on Malick's films, has said Malick was shooting film during this time as well.[36]
After learning of Malick's work on an article aboutChe Guevara during the 1960s,Steven Soderbergh offered Malick the chance to write and direct a film about Guevara he had been developing withBenicio del Toro. Malick accepted and produced a screenplay focused on Guevara's failed revolution inBolivia.[46] After a year and a half, the financing had not come together entirely, and Malick was given the opportunity to directThe New World,[47] a script he had begun developing in the 1970s.[48] He left the Guevara project in March 2004,[47] and Soderbergh took over as director, leading to the filmChe (2008).The New World, based on the story ofJohn Smith andPocahontas in the Virginia Colony, was released in 2005. Over one million feet of film were shot, and three different cuts of varying length were released.
While the film was nominated for theAcademy Award for Best Cinematography, critical reception was divided throughout its theatrical run; many praised its visuals and acting while finding its narrative unfocused.[49] Five critics later namedThe New World one of the best films of its decade,[50] and it ranked 39th in a 2016BBC poll of the greatest films since 2000.[51]
Malick scholars Christopher B. Barnett and Clark J. Elliston wrote that it became "arguably [Malick's] most acclaimed work".[56] It was voted the 79th greatest American film of all time in a 2015BBC Culture poll of 62 international film critics.[57] The work was also ranked the seventh-greatest film since 2000 in a worldwide critics' poll by BBC.[51]
On November 1, 2011, Filmnation Entertainment announced international sales for Malick's next two projects:Lawless (later released asSong to Song) andKnight of Cups. Both films have large ensemble casts, with many actors appearing in both. The films were shot back-to-back in 2012,Song to Song primarily inAustin, Texas, andKnight of Cups in Los Angeles andLas Vegas.[61] During the weekend of September 16, 2011, Malick and a small crew were seen filming Christian Bale and Haley Bennett at theAustin City Limits Music Festival as part of preliminary shooting forSong to Song.[62] Malick was also seen directing Ryan Gosling andRooney Mara at theFun Fun Fun Fest on November 4, 2011.[62][63]Knight of Cups had its world premiere at theBerlin International Film Festival in February 2015, and was met with mixed reactions.[64][65][66] It was released in the U.S. on March 4, 2016, byBroad Green Pictures.[67]
Song to Song had its world premiere atSouth by Southwest on March 10, 2017, before being released theatrically in the U.S. on March 17 by Broad Green Pictures, and was met with mixed reactions.[68][69] Concurrent with these two features, Malick continued work on anImax documentary,Voyage of Time, that examines the birth and death of the known universe.The Hollywood Reporter called it "a celebration of the Earth, displaying the whole of time, from the birth of the universe to its final collapse." The film is the culmination of a project Malick had been working on for over 40 years, and has been described by Malick as "one of my greatest dreams".[70] It features footage Malick and collaborators shot over the years, and expands on the footage that special effects luminariesDouglas Trumbull (2001) and Dan Glass (The Matrix) created forThe Tree of Life. It was released in two versions: a 40-minute IMAX version (Voyage of Time: The IMAX Experience) with narration byBrad Pitt, and a 90-minute feature-length version (Voyage of Time: Life's Journey) with narration byCate Blanchett.[71] The feature-length version had its world premiere on September 7, 2016, at the73rd Venice International Film Festival.[72] The IMAX version was released on October 7, 2016, byIMAX Corporation and Broad Green Pictures.[73]
Malick's next film,A Hidden Life, depicts the life of Austria'sFranz Jägerstätter, aconscientious objector during World War II who was put to death at age 36 for undermining military actions and was later declared a martyr andbeatified by theCatholic Church.August Diehl stars as Jägerstätter, withValerie Pachner as his wife, Franziska.[74] The film was shot inStudio Babelsberg inPotsdam, Germany, in the summer of 2016, and in parts of northern Italy, such asBrixen,South Tyrol, and the small mountain village ofSappada.[74][75] It was released in 2019. Malick has said that, compared to his more recent films, withA Hidden Life he had "repented and gone back to working with a much tighter script".[76]
On June 7, 2019, Malick reportedly started shooting his next film, code-namedThe Last Planet, nearRome, Italy.[83] The film will tell the story ofJesus's life through a series of parables. On September 8, the cast was revealed to includeGéza Röhrig as Jesus,Matthias Schoenaerts asSaint Peter, andMark Rylance as four versions ofSatan.[84] On November 20, 2020, it was announced that the film's name would beThe Way of the Wind.[85] As of 2024, Malick was still editing the film.[86]
Critics have noted the philosophical themes of Malick's films.[87] According to film scholar Lloyd Michaels, Malick's main themes include "the isolated individual's desire for transcendence amidst established social institutions, the grandeur and untouched beauty of nature, the competing claims of instinct and reason, and the lure of the open road".[87] He namedDays of Heaven as one in a group of acclaimed films from the 1970s that were intended to revolutionize the Americanfilm epic. LikeThe Godfather films (1972, 1974),Nashville (1975), andThe Deer Hunter (1978), Michaels argued that the movie delves into "certain national myths" as an idiosyncratic type of Western, "particularly the migration westward, the dream of personal success, and the clash of agrarian and industrial economies".[88]Roger Ebert considered Malick's body of work to have a unifying common theme: "Human lives diminish beneath the overarching majesty of the world."[89] In Ebert's opinion, Malick was among the few remaining directors who yearned "to make no less than a masterpiece".[90] While reviewingThe Tree of Life,The New York Times criticA. O. Scott compared Malick to innovative "homegrown romantics" such as the writersWalt Whitman,Hart Crane,James Agee, andHerman Melville, in the sense that their "definitive writings" also "did not sit comfortably or find universal favor in their own time" but nonetheless "leaned perpetually into the future, pushing their readers forward toward a new horizon of understanding".[91]
Malick's body of work has inspired polarized opinions. According to Michaels, "few American directors have inspired such adulation and rejection with each successive film" as Malick. Michaels said that in all of American cinema, Malick is the filmmaker most frequently "granted genius status after creating such a discontinuous and limited body of work".[88] Malick makes use of broad philosophical and spiritual overtones, such as in the form of meditativevoice-overs from individual characters. Some critics feel these elements made the films engaging and unique, while others find them pretentious and gratuitous, particularly in his post-hiatus work.[92] Michaels believed the opinionsDays of Heaven continues to elicit among scholars and film enthusiasts exemplify this: "The debate continues to revolve around what to make of 'its extremities of beauty', whether the exquisite lighting, painterly compositions, dreamy dissolves, and fluid camera movements, combined with the epic grandeur and elegiac tone, sufficiently compensate for the thinness of the tale, the two-dimensionality of the characters, and the resulting emotional detachment of the audience."[88]Reverse Shot journalist Chris Wisniewski regarded bothDays of Heaven andThe New World not as "literary nor theatrical" but "principally cinematic" in their aesthetic, intimating narrative, emotional, and conceptual themes through the use of "image and sound" instead of "foregrounding dialogue, events or characters". He highlighted Malick's use of "rambling philosophical voiceovers; the placid images of nature, offering quiet contrast to the evil deeds of men; the stunning cinematography, often achieved with natural light; the striking use of music".[93]
While the perception of Malick as arecluse is inaccurate,[94][95][96] he is nevertheless famously protective of his private life.[97] His contracts stipulate that his likeness may not be used for promotional purposes, and he routinely declines requests for interviews.[33][98]
From 1970 to 1976, Malick was married to Jill Jakes.[99] His companion in the late 1970s was director and screenwriter Michie Gleason.[99] In 1985 in France, he married[99] Michèle Marie Morette,[100][101] whom he met in Paris in 1980; in 1996, Malick asked for a divorce, which was granted.[99][101] Afterward he married Alexandra "Ecky" Wallace, his high-school sweetheart.[102]
Malick's semi-autobiographical filmTo the Wonder was inspired by his relationships with Morette and Wallace.[15][103]
^Hill, Derek (2008). "The Movie Brats: Hollywood Regeneration".Charlie Kaufman and Hollywood's Merry Band of Pranksters, Fabulists and Dreamers: An Excursion Into the American New Wave. Oldcastle Books.ISBN978-1842433928.
^Eng, Monica (October 9, 1978)."Days of Heaven".Chicago Tribune. RetrievedDecember 16, 2016. "Some critics have complained that theDays of Heaven story is too slight."
^Runyon, Christopher (March 28, 2013)."The Terrence Malick Retrospective: Days of Heaven". Movie Mezzanine. RetrievedDecember 16, 2016. "you simply can't take up a list of 'rediscovered classics' without mentioning Terrence Malick's follow-up toBadlands"
^abBarnett, Christopher B.; Elliston, Clark J., eds. (2016)."Preface".Theology and the Films of Terrence Malick.Routledge.ISBN978-1317588276. RetrievedJanuary 30, 2017.The New World encountered a split reception upon its release in 2005. And yet, as will be mentioned later, the film has grown in stature with time ... Malick followedThe Tree of Life, arguably his most acclaimed film, withTo the Wonder, arguably his most derided one ... It is too early, then, to analyze the reception ofKnights of Cups, though early indications are that, likeTo the Wonder, critical response will be wildly inconsistent.
^Thomson, David (September 1, 2011)."Is Days of Heaven the most beautiful film ever made?".The Guardian. RetrievedDecember 6, 2016. "It was said in the press that he had disappeared, that he was a recluse who declined to become a public personality. I met him in the 90s and it turned out that there was nothing reclusive about him."
^abBlackall, Luke (May 24, 2011)."The secret life of Terrence Malick".The Independent. UK.Archived from the original on June 15, 2012. RetrievedMay 12, 2013.Michele Morette, his late ex-wife of 13 years, revealed that while they were together she wasn't allowed into his office, and that he would rather buy her a copy of a book than lend her his own.
Biskind, Peter."'The Runaway Genius'".Vanity Fair. April 23, 2010. Archived from the original on January 15, 2011. RetrievedOctober 20, 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link),Vanity Fair, 460, December 1998, 116–125.
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Chion, Michel.The Voice in Cinema, translated by Claudia Gorbman, New York & Chichester: Columbia University Press, 1999.
Ciment, Michel. 'Entretien avec Terrence Malick',Positif, 170, June 1975, 30–34.
Cook, G. Richardson. 'The Filming ofBadlands: An Interview with Terry Malick',Filmmakers Newsletter, 7:8, June 1974, 30–32.
Crofts, Charlotte. 'From the "Hegemony of the Eye" to the "Hierarchy of Perception": The Reconfiguration of Sound and Image in Terrence Malick'sDays of Heaven',Journal of Media Practice, 2:1, 2001, 19–29.
Stivers, Clint and Kirsten F. Benson. "'What's Your Name, Kid?': The Acousmatic Voiceovers of Private Edward P. Train inThe Thin Red Line",Postscript: Essays in Film and the Humanities, 34:2/3, 2015, 36-52.
Telotte, J. P. "Badlands and the Souvenir Drive",Western Humanities Review, 40:2, Summer 1986, 101–14.
Walker, Beverly (Spring 1975),"Malick on Badlands",Sight and Sound, 44, no. 2, pp. 82–83 – via Eskimo North
Wondra, Janet. "A Gaze Unbecoming: Schooling the Child for Femininity inDays of Heaven",Wide Angle, 16:4, October 1994, 5–22.
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