Terrence Malick
Biography
Terrence Malick (born November 30, 1943) is an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. In a career spanning over five decades, Malick has directed nine feature films. He is known for his singular style that combines loose narrative and editing structure with spiritual themes. Malick made his feature film debut with Badlands (1973), a crime drama loosely inspired by the Starkweather-Fugate murders. He followed it with Days of Heaven (1978), a lyrical period drama about migrant laborers in the Texas Panhandle, which earned widespread acclaim for its cinematography. After this success, Malick took a two-decade hiatus from filmmaking before returning with The Thin Red Line (1998), an ensemble war epic set during the Battle of Guadalcanal, based on the novel of the same name by James Jones. The film was nominated for seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, Best Original Score and Best Sound. He continued with The New World (2005), a meditative historical drama depicting the story of Pocahontes and the founding of Jamestown. Malick achieved critical prominence with The Tree of Life (2011), an ambitious family drama that won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival and is frequently cited as one of the greatest films of the 21st century. This was followed by a series of more experimental, impressionistic works including To the Wonder (2012), Knight of Cups (2015), and Song to Song (2017), which explored themes of love, faith, and modern alienation through fragmented narrative and visual storytelling. Malick also directed the large-scale documentary Voyage of Time (2016), a cosmic history of the universe released in both IMAX and feature-length versions. He later returned to historical drama with A Hidden Life (2019), about Austrian conscientious objector Franz Jägerstätter during World War II. In addition to his feature films, Malick has directed several high-profile commercials, including Mon Guerlain - Notes of a Woman (2017), a short film-style spot for Google Pixel 3 (2018), a nature-focused Ford commercial (2021) and a brand film for Louis Vuitton's USA campaign (2022).
Known For & Full Filmography7 Titles
Drama Series - 1992, 16 episodes • as Self
HBO First Look is an American television show on HBO that chronicles up and coming movies. It first started in 1992 with a documentary on A League of Their Own starring Tom Hanks, and still airs today. The series shows behind-the-scenes looks at the filming and interviews with the actors. The show is part documentary and part advertisement. It airs on HBO with no set schedule.
Movie - 2022, 2h 15m • as Self (voice)
A portrait of Ennio Morricone, the most popular and prolific film composer of the 20th century, the one most loved by the international public, a two-time Oscar winner and the author of over five hundred unforgettable scores.
Movie - 1974, 2h 15m • as Caller at Rich Man's House (uncredited)
An impressionable teenage girl from a dead-end town and her older greaser boyfriend embark on a killing spree in the South Dakota badlands.
Movie - 1978, 2h 15m • as Mill Worker (uncredited)
In 1916, a Chicago steel worker accidentally kills his supervisor and flees to the Texas panhandle with his girlfriend and little sister to work harvesting wheat in the fields of a stoic farmer.
Movie - 1972, 2h 15m • as Worksman (uncredited)
Broke and in debt, an otherwise honest cowboy and his buddy get mixed up in some shady dealings with a crooked cattle dealer.
Movie - 2002, 2h 15m • as Self (archive footage)
Rosy-Fingered Dawn is a film on Terrence Malick. It is about the making of BADLANDS, DAYS OF HEAVEN, THE THIN RED LINE and the personal involvement of some of the most representative figures of the American culture itself. This medley of voices has given origin to a journey throughout the whole United States, from California to Colorado, from Virginia to Minnesota, passing by New York and Los Angeles. Every stop represents an ideal set in which all the characters of the films come to life once again giving place to a growing flow of memories. The narrative dimension of Malick's cinema resounds and opens a new horizon on the visible contradictions of the American culture; no easy judgement but a critical consciousness is what emerges from this coral speech, together with a definite need: the necessity of art. A need that Terrence Malick was able to satisfy.
Movie - 1969, 2h 15m • as Tilman
Two cowboy desperados attempt to hold up a modern-day bank in this absurd western.