Terrence Malick Movies
Terrence Malick is one of the great enigmas of contemporary filmmaking, a shadowy figure whose towering reputation rests largely on a very small body of work. A visual stylist beyond compare, Malick emerged during the golden era of 1970s American movie-making, bringing to the screen a dreamlike, ethereal beauty countered by elliptical, ironic storytelling; resonant and mythic, his films illuminated themes of love and death with rare mastery, their indelible images distinguished by economy and precision.Born in Waco, TX, on November 30, 1943, Malick spent many of his formative summers working as a farmhand, an experience upon which he would draw extensively in his films. Upon graduating from Harvard with a degree in philosophy, he entered Magdalen College in Oxford as a Rhodes scholar, but exited prior to completing his final thesis. On returning to the U.S., he became a freelance journalist, with his byline appearing in such publications as Life, Newsweek, and The New Yorker. While tenuring as a philosophy professor at M.I.T., Malick enrolled in a colleague's film course. In 1969, he was accepted into the first graduating class at the American Film Institute's Center for Advanced Studies, financing his studies by rewriting the screenplays for such films as Deadhead Miles (which did not see release until 1982), Dirty Harry, and Drive, He Said.
Upon completing his AFI studies with 1972's 12-minute short Lanton Mills, Malick earned his first feature screenwriting credit on Stuart Rosenberg's Pocket Money. That same year, he also began production on his directorial debut, Badlands. Rejecting all studio offers, Malick gathered financing through a partnership agreement with a group of several small investors, shooting with a non-union crew on a budget of less than 350,000 dollars. The finished 1973 product, an iconic and loose retelling of the Starkweather/Fugate murder spree of the 1950s, bore little trace of its low-budget genesis, however, and was widely hailed as a masterpiece upon its release. However, a follow-up was not quickly forthcoming, and apart from the script for Jack Starrett's 1974 crime caper The Gravy Train, penned under the pseudonym David Whitney, Malick fell silent for five years.
When he finally resurfaced with 1978's Days of Heaven, the critical praise was even more thunderous. Shot with impeccable beauty by cinematographer Nestor Almendros (who won an Academy Award for his work), the tale of wheat harvesters in the Texas Panhandle at the turn of the century was an elegy for America's past, a heartland corrupted by greed and progress. After the picture's release, Malick -- who won a Cannes Best Director award for the film -- relocated to Paris, where he lived in virtual seclusion without publicly commenting on his past movie work or on the possibility of future projects. Finally, after nearly two decades of silence, in 1997, Malick announced his return to filmmaking with an adaptation of the James Jones novel The Thin Red Line. The highly anticipated 1998 film, while not the long-awaited masterpiece many were expecting, met with positive reviews and earned Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar nominations for Malick. Filled with the kind of stunning imagery that defined Days of Heaven, the film effectively convinced many observers that although Malick may have been lost to Hollywood for years, he had in no way lost his touch. Seven years later, another Malick film, the historical drama The New World, followed, also to positive reviews. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- 2010
Enigmatic filmmaker Terrence Malick takes a seat behind the camera once again with the drama Tree of Life, starring Brad Pitt, Jessica Chastain, and Sean Penn for River Road Entertainment. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brad Pitt, Jessica Chastain, (more)
First-time feature filmmaker Laura Dunn transforms an idea suggested to her by legendary director Terrence Malick into a cinematic reality with an ambitious documentary detailing the rise of a West Texas farm boy-turned-wildly successful real-estate mogul, and the landmark environmental movement that his actions inadvertently set into motion. In the late-'70s, the city of Austin, TX, was ripe for change. Recognizing the remarkable potential for both growth and financial profit in such a rapidly expanding boomtown, aspiring real-estate tycoon Gary Bradley set his own American dream into motion by turning a 4,000-acre ranch into the biggest and fastest-selling subdivision in the entire state of Texas. His sizable development would stir controversy in the community, however, when the locals learned that it would likely mean the end of the delicate limestone aquifer and spring-fed swimming that has stood as a local landmark for generations. Determined not to let the precious natural resource run dry at any cost, the concerned citizens decided to do everything in their power to fight the development. In the ensuing battle, one of America's most powerful environmental movements was born. Robert Redford and Willie Nelson appear in a though-provoking film that weighs the economics of the American dream against the destruction of the natural world in an effort to explore just what price we, and future generations, are willing to pay for the luxuries of modern living. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
One man's role in the long battle to outlaw slavery in the United Kingdom sets the stage for this historical drama from director Michael Apted. In 1784, 21-year-old William Wilberforce (Ioan Gruffudd) was elected to the British House of Commons, and soon established himself as a politician with a conscience. Several years later, his close friend William Pitt (Benedict Cumberbatch) became prime minister, and together they made a bold plan to introduce a bill banning slavery before the English legislature. Wilberforce was aided by anti-slavery activists Olaudah Equiano (Youssou N'Dour) and Thomas Clarkson (Rufus Sewell); however, pro-slavery hard-liners Lord Tarleton (Ciarán Hinds) and the Duke of Clarence (Toby Jones) spearheaded a hard-fought opposition to the legislation, and despite Wilberforce's best efforts, his bill went down in defeat. In 1797, Wilberforce left politics due to poor health and a battered spirit; staying at the country home of his friends Henry and Marianne Thornton (Nicholas Farrell and Sylvestra Le Touzel), he became acquainted with Barbara Spooner (Romola Garai), a beautiful woman with progressive views. Spooner became deeply infatuated with Wilberforce, and she encouraged him not to give up on his noble goals; with her help, Wilberforce launched a second campaign to persuade England's lawmakers to end the slave trade. Amazing Grace made its North American premiere as the closing-night gala attraction at the 2006 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ioan Gruffudd, Romola Garai, (more)
Terrence Malick, the universally acclaimed American filmmaker responsible for the key 1970s features Badlands and Days of Heaven, returns for a rare directorial outing with the sweeping period piece The New World -- an epic dramatization of Pocahontas' relationships with John Smith and John Rolfe. Malick's story opens at the dawn of the 17th century, just prior to the colonization of the United States -- when the North American population consisted of an interconnected series of native tribes. In April 1607, three maritime vessels approach the unfamiliar continent, with 103 sailors on board. As members of the Virginia Company, these adventurers carry a royal charter to mount a society on the edge of the new continent. John Smith (Colin Farrell) sits chained below one of the decks. He is a 27-year-old loose cannon, who, for his persistently rebellious acts, has been sentenced to death by hanging as soon as the ships dock. Nevertheless, Captain Christopher Newport (Christopher Plummer) acknowledges Smith's ability to aid with exploration and consents to pardon him as a result. Upon landing, Smith seeks assistance from local Native American tribes with colonization, but runs into the unexpected -- he falls desperately in love with Pocahontas, or "Playful One" (Q'orianka Kilcher), the daughter of the omnipotent Chief Powhatan (August Schellenberg). Needless to say, this does not sit well with Powhatan or the rest of the tribe. Moreover, the oft-bellicose Smith enters a head-to-head conflict with his fellow Britons when he finds his tempestuousness calmed by the tranquility of the new landscape, as the anger and violence of his shipmates concurrently build in the face of the Native Americans. Later, Smith temporarily returns to England; believing that Smith is dead, Pocahontas accepts the hand of plantation owner John Rolfe in marriage (with her father's blessing) and follows Rolfe back to the old country. When Smith returns to America, his intended is nowhere to be seen, and the entire community teeters on the brink of a British-Indian war. Malick shot the production on location in Virginia; it co-stars Jonathan Pryce, John Savage, and David Thewlis. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Colin Farrell, Q'orianka Kilcher, (more)
A Vietnamese man looking for a better life embarks on a dangerous and eye-opening voyage to America in this powerful drama set during the early '90s. In 1990, Binh (Damien Nguyen) is a man in his early twenties who has never known his parents, though he is clearly of mixed-race parentage, which makes him an outcast in his community. Weary of being treated like an animal, Binh sets out to find his mother, Mai (Thi Kim Xuan Chau), only to discover she works as a servant for a wealthy family who subject her to constant abuse, and that she has a baby son. When a household accident leads to the death of the matriarch, Mai, her infant, and Binh go on the run. Mai then confesses to Binh that she's dying, gives him all the money she has, and implores him to leave Vietnam for America, with his half-brother in tow. Unable to travel to America legally, Binh attempts to smuggle his way into the States aboard a ship; he's found out, and is sent to a prison camp in Malaysia, where he meets Ling (Bai Ling), a beautiful woman who has been forced into prostitution to support herself. Befriending Ling, Binh eventually arranges for passage to America aboard a refugee ship, though the harrowing voyage claims the life of Binh's half-brother. Binh and Ling arrive in New York City as illegal aliens, and soon learn that life in America can be just as harrowing as what they left behind; eventually, Binh runs away, hoping to make his way to Texas where he's learned that his father is living. Produced by Terrence Malick, The Beautiful Country also features supporting performances from Nick Nolte and Tim Roth. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Damien Nguyen, Nick Nolte, (more)
Chris (Jamie Bell of Billy Elliot) is a volatile teen who lives with his father, John (Dermot Mulroney), and his little brother, Tim (Devon Alan). After the death of Chris' mother, his reclusive father moved the family to a shack in backwoods Georgia, where they raise hogs. Tim has an unusual eating disorder. He is constantly making himself sick by eating things like dirt and paint. One day, John's estranged brother, Deel (Josh Lucas), gets out of prison and shows up on the farm. John is less than thrilled to see him, but agrees to let him stay with the family as long as Deel helps him look after his boys. Chris is drawn to his wild-man uncle, but it soon becomes clear that Deel has more on his mind than a family reunion. Greed and years of resentment lead to violence, and Chris finds himself on the run, towing his sickly brother along, with Deel in pursuit. Undertow is writer/director David Gordon Green's third feature film, and features many of the same crew as his previous films, George Washington and All the Real Girls, including cinematographer Tim Orr. Green, who co-wrote the script with Joe Conway, has cited the influence of filmmaker Terrence Malick, who is credited as a producer. Green was also influenced by low-budget regional films of the 1970s (like Macon County Line and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre) and by Charles Laughton's classic The Night of the Hunter. Undertow was selected by the Film Society of Lincoln Center for inclusion in the 2004 New York Film Festival. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jamie Bell, Josh Lucas, (more)
A man stretching the truth for his own sake soon begins doing the same for someone else, with increasingly complicated results, in this gentle comedy from China. Zhao (Zhao Benshan) is a guy in his early fifties who's out of work but still wants to marry his girlfriend (Dong Lifan). However, his often cranky sweetheart thinks he runs a hotel, and Zhao is trying to keep the illusion alive with the help of his pal Li (Li Xuejian) by turning an abandoned bus into a "love hotel" for couples who lack privacy in their homes. But business isn't all that good, since the old-fashioned Zhao asks unmarried couples to keep their doors open to ensure nothing untoward happens. As Zhao tries to convince his girlfriend to walk down the aisle with him -- and struggles to raise the money she demands first -- she introduces him to Wu Jing (Dong Jie), the blind teenage stepdaughter she inherited from her marriage to her now-deceased first husband. The woman insists that Zhao give Wu Jing a job in his hotel; since the bus/hotel has been towed away, this isn't a practical possibility. Zhao and Li put Wu Jing through a fake job interview to keep up appearances, and when she breaks down in tears talking about her deadbeat father, he decides he has to do something for her. Zhao moves Wu Jing into his home, and with the help of his friends, sets up a phony massage therapy center where Wu Jing works with the "clients" -- actually Zhao's friends, most of whom are also unemployed. But the bigger and more complex the illusion becomes, the harder it is to maintain, though Zhao feels compelled to do so for the sake of the girl's feelings. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Zhao Benshan, Dong Jie, (more)
- 1998
- PG
Veteran ethnographic documentarian Leslie Woodhead helmed this U.S.-British docudrama about Ethiopian long-distance runner Haile Gebrselassie (with the Atlanta Olympic games sequence directed by Bud Greenspan). Gebrselassie won the gold medal in the men's 10,000-meters race at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, and the Atlanta race serves as a framing device. Yonas Zergaw, the athlete's nephew, portrays him as a youth, with Gebrselassie portraying himself from age 18. At his native village of Asela, he ran 12 miles daily to school. When fellow Ethiopian Miruts Yifter won the 10,000-meter race at the 1980 Moscow Olympics, Haile was inspired and became a serious runner at 17, moving to Addis Ababa to begin training. Haile's late mother is played by his eldest sister. Haile's father portrays himself in later scenes, with Haile's first cousin acting as the father as a younger man in the film's earlier sequences. Shown at 1998 film fests (Telluride, Venice). ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Haile Gebrselassie, Shawananness Gebrselassie, (more)
The return of director Terrence Malick to feature filmmaking after a twenty year sabbatical, this World War II drama is an elegiac rumination on man's destruction of nature and himself, based on James Jones' semi-autobiographical novel, his follow-up to From Here to Eternity. James Caviezel stars as Private Witt, a deserter living in peace and harmony with the natives of a Pacific island paradise. Captured by the Navy, Witt is debriefed by a senior officer (Sean Penn) and returned to an active duty unit preparing for what will be the Battle of Guadalcanal. As Witt goes ashore in the company of his fellow soldiers, they meet diverse fates. Sergeant Keck (Woody Harrelson) is killed by an exploding grenade. Captain John Gaff (John Cusack) is an intelligent, sober leader facing the destruction of his command because his commanding officer Colonel Tall (Nick Nolte) is bucking for a general's star. Sergeant McCron (John Savage) loses his mind. Private Bell (Ben Chaplin) gets a "Dear John" letter from his beloved wife. However, as the U.S. troops advance up grassy slopes toward entrenched Japanese positions, it is Witt's voiced-over ruminations on life, death, and nature that are the real heart and soul of The Thin Red Line (1998). Adrien Brody appears as Private Fife, the major character of Jones' novel and the author's alter-ego, although Fife has been relegated to a minor supporting role by Malick's filmed adaptation. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sean Penn, Adrien Brody, (more)
Terrence Malick's Days of Heaven, the long-awaited follow-up to his 1973 debut Badlands, confirmed his reputation as a visual poet and narrative iconoclast with a story of love and murder told through the jaded voice of a child and expressive images of nature. In 1916, Chicago steelworker Bill (Richard Gere, stepping in for John Travolta) flees to Texas with his little sister Linda (Linda Manz) and girlfriend Abby (Brooke Adams) after fatally erupting at his boss. Along with other itinerant laborers, they work the harvest at a wealthy, ailing farmer's ranch, but the farmer (playwright Sam Shepard) falls in love with Abby, and, believing her to be Bill's sister, asks the three to stay on at his elysian spread. Seeing it as his one real chance to escape perpetual poverty, Bill urges Abby to marry the sick man. Marriage, however, has more restorative powers, and the farmer has more magnetism, than Bill had planned. "Nobody's perfect," Linda impassively observes in one of her many voiceovers, after their brief paradise is erased by plagues of locusts, fire, and lethal jealousy. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Gere, Brooke Adams, (more)
- 1974
- R
The Gravy Train stars Stacy Keach and Frederic Forrest as a husky but none-too-bright pair of West Virginia brothers. Feeling stifled by their blue-collar jobs, the boys become tentatively involved in crime, only to discover that they enjoy working on the wrong side of the law. The moments of extreme violence in this film erupt naturally, not arbitrarily, but still come as a shock to those viewers who've grown to like the sociopathic protagonists. Terence Malick co-wrote the film's seriocomic script under the "nom de plume" of David Whitney. The Gravy Train is better known by its alternate title, The Dion Brothers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
"He wanted to die with me and I dreamed of being lost forever in his arms." A young couple goes on a Midwest crime spree in Terrence Malick's hypnotically assured debut feature, based on the 1950s Starkweather-Fugate murders. Fancying himself a rebel like James Dean, twentysomething Kit (Martin Sheen) takes off with teen baton-twirler Holly (Sissy Spacek) after shooting her father (Warren Oates) when he tries to split the pair up. Once bounty hunters discover their riverside hiding place, Kit and Holly head toward Saskatchewan, leaving dead bodies in their wake. As the law closes in, however, Holly gives herself up -- but Kit doesn't hold it against her, as he basks in his new status as a momentary folk hero. Inaugurating the use of voice-over narration that he would continue in Days of Heaven (1978) and The Thin Red Line (1998), Malick juxtaposes Holly's flat readings of her flowery romance-novel diary prose with the banal and surreal details of their journey. Singularly inarticulate with each other, Kit and Holly are more intrigued by mythic celebrity gestures, as Holly peruses her fan magazines and Kit commemorates key moments before orchestrating a properly dramatic capture for himself (complete with the right hat). The sublime visuals lend a dreamlike beauty to the couple's trip even as their actions are treated casually; Malick neither glamorizes Kit and Holly nor consigns them to the bloody end of their fame-fixated predecessors in Bonnie and Clyde (1967). With the couple's opaque dialogue and Holly's fanzine dream narration, Malick further denies an easy explanation for their crimes. Made for under 500,000 dollars, Badlands debuted at the 1973 New York Film Festival, along with Martin Scorsese's Mean Streets, and was released within months of two other outlaw-couple road movies, Steven Spielberg's The Sugarland Express and Robert Altman's Thieves Like Us. Although Badlands did not make an impression at the box office, its pictorial splendor and cool yet disquieting narrative established Malick as one of the most compelling artists to come out of early-'70s Hollywood. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Martin Sheen, Sissy Spacek, (more)
- 1972
- PG
Two modern day cowboys smuggle a herd of cows across the border in this loosely amiable comedy. Jim Kane (Paul Newman) is a cowboy who unexpectedly finds himself deep in debt and in need of some fast cash. A less-than-scrupulous businessman approaches Kane and offers him a handsome payday to escort 200 head of cattle from Mexico into the United States for use of the rodeo circuit. While the deal seems dubious, Kane goes along with it, and persuades his friend Leonard (Lee Marvin) to tag along. However, the cattle drive proves to be more of a challenge than the men expected, with a number of less-than-welcome adventures following the cattlemen along the way. Pocket Money also features Strother Martin, Hector Elizondo and Wayne Rogers; keep an eye peeled for a cameo appearance by Terrence Malick, who wrote the film's screenplay years before directing the acclaimed Badlands and Days of Heaven. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul Newman, Lee Marvin, (more)
- 1972
One of Terrence Malick's early screenwriting efforts, this loosely-structured road movie finds a questionably sane long-distance trucker named Cooper (Alan Arkin) winding his way through the heart of America. An employee of a questionable hauling outfit who has been assigned to drive a newly hijacked rig to an as-of-yet undisclosed-location, Cooper quickly ditches his partner and points his eighteen-wheeler westward. Picking-up a hitchhiker (Paul Benedict) for some company in the cab, the unstable trucker's journey westward grows increasingly surreal as he runs into numerous eccentric characters, portrayed in cameo roles by such noted names as Ida Lupino, George Raft, Charles Durning, Loretta Swit, Richard Kiel and future director John Milius. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alan Arkin, Paul Benedict, (more)
