Comments on: Terrence Malick: The Reluctant Auteur

By: neilinnes

neilinnes — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 10:41:17 +0000

I always saw There Will Be Blood as more of a nod to Kubrick in Many ways. Though I’m sure Malick is always on the mind of a film maker shooting in the middle of america…

There is a lack of nature in PT Andersons film, a coldness to it. Plainview’s battle is with himself, his greed and god…

By: James Harris

James Harris — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 13:52:32 +0000

What I meant with the sentence about ‘There Will Be Blood’ is I thought it was very Malick inspired. But it didn’t have his sense of pacing so didn’t quite get that awe at the natural world Malick always communicates. It looked much more stagey, as if filmed on indoors sets.

By: James Harris

James Harris — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 23:29:51 +0000

Malick for me is just a beautiful cinematic artist. It’ll take a while, but I reckon when we’re all gone people will turn to his films as the best of what the first hundred years of cinema produced. I thought ‘There Will be Blood’

One thing about his painfully slow schedule is that it makes each film an event. You know that a Malick film will be like nothing else: wine after water, you might say. Each one of his films is hugely different, in setting, tone and narrative. An important similarity of content is that each film is set in the past. I think the uniqueness and upcloseness of Malick’s approach – he uses a lot of handheld – gives you the feeling of what you call in German a ‘Zeitreise’, a journey into the past. I think each one of his films pays reviewing, but for sheer beauty, Days of Heaven is up there.

One thing I would be interested is in is what actors and technicians think of Malick’s method. Is it rewarding to work with him or is he likely to confuse and frustrate them?

Thank you for the nice article Mr. Innes! I briefly thought you were the same Innes of Bonzo Dog fame, revealing yourself to a passionate cinéaste. I look forward to hearing your opinions on ‘Tree of Life’ upon release.

All the best from Berlin,

James

By: neilinnes

neilinnes — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 11:46:51 +0000

An excellent way of putting it. The words “letting the work speak for itself” are not in a lot of film makers vocabularies these days.

The Thin Red Line is so dense and full, i think making sense of it would be some what of a folly. though an extremely beautiful one!

There is an excellent book in The Comtemporary Film Directors Series. Terrence Malick by Lloyd Michaels. It’s an academic study (somewhat too academic in places) of all of Malicks films and the 2 published interviews at the time of print. Quite an insightful read and one you may enjoy in your quest for enlightenment!

Thanks again for all of your comments. Keep em Coming!

neil

By: Tim

Tim — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 15:26:42 +0000

Neil,

Thank you for your insight. I am not well versed in cinema, philosophy, or poetry, but am fascinated by TRL and have been working on the “why” for some time. I guess I still am.

There are only a couple of people I would really like to meet in person and Mr. Malick is one of them. Judging from what I read of his reclusive nature, I am in a long line of people with that idea (and judging from my lack of contact with the movie industry, my guess is that their reasons have more merit).

You have to appreciate anyone who is more focused on his/her message than whose name graces their film.

Regards,

Tim

By: Jack

Jack — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 13:58:00 +0000

Neil, great choice of screen-shot from Days of Heaven. A film which truly deserves the Criterion release.

By: neilinnes

neilinnes — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 13:02:31 +0000

Holly, I totally agree… squeezing philosophical musings into feature films when done badly is ofter laughable… some how Malick does it so softly and precisely its mind blowing…for what is film but something to make you think out side of it and of yourself?

Fabien… are you calling me a poet! Mon Dieu!

Clarkey, The Cassavettes comparison is valid I think in a strange way, both make personal films about imperfect people out of their depth.

Thankyou everyone for you comments!

By: clarkey

clarkey — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 12:54:07 +0000

Really interesting, thought-provoking piece, Neil. Malick is a favourite of mine and Badlands simply brilliant. Although vastly different in vision and execution, I put him alongside Cassavettes as one of the most fascinating filmmakers to come out of America. His limited collection of work only adds to that sense of singularity and intrigue. a director not only to admire but to cherish

By: Fabien Gerard

Fabien Gerard — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 01:19:43 +0000

Only poets do understand what being a true poet really means. Thank you, Neil !

By: Holly GW

Holly GW — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 12:53:29 +0000

Nicely done Neil! Really interesting. What I love about his films are how they manage to give the viewer an incredible sense of perspective on the world. He does what artists of all kinds should do, but most don’t, which is to make the spectator leave seeing the world in a different way, even slightly, even only for a day or an hour, whether it’s the way you look at a building or the way you see a shape or what you think of the crazy lady next door. If the spectator has had his outlook altered in any way, the artist has done something right. Malick does this, for me at least, in a big big way. And it’s not just because of his scripts or his cinematography or music. It’s the combination of every single thing. I think making films in the painfully slow, overly deliberative way he does really pays off, as he ends up with something, dare I say it, perfect.
Oh dear I’m rambling. Great job neil!
Holly.