The Cinema of Terrence Malick: Poetic Visions of America

Directors' Cuts

by Hannah Patterson (Editor)

With 2005's acclaimed and controversial The New World , one of cinema's most enigmatic filmmakers returned to the screen with only his fourth feature film in a career spanning thirty years. While Terrence Malick's work has always divided opinion, his poetic, transcendent filmic language has unquestionably redefined modern cinema, and with a new feature scheduled for 2008, contemporary cinema is finally catching up with his vision. This updated second edition of The Cinema of Terrence Poetic Visions of America charts the continuing growth of Malick's oeuvre, exploring identity, place, and existence in his films. Featuring two new original essays on his latest career landmark and extensive analysis of The Thin Red Line -Malick's haunting screen treatment of World War II-this is an essential study of a visionary poet of American cinema.

Genres: Film, Nonfiction, History, Media Tie In

224 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2004

Reviews

[Esteban del Mal · Rating 4 out of 5]

The best of the bunch:

Terrence Malick and Arthur Penn: The Western Re-Myth by John Orr;

The Greatest Generation Steps Over The Thin Red Line by John Streamas;

Praising The New World by Mark Cousins (my personal favorite because it reads almost like a Goodreads review -- the author admits to being reduced to tears by the movie, plucks a weed from the grave of David Hume, mails it to Malick, and gets a phone call from the director a few months later).

[Sebastian · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very mixed bag. Some essays are incredibly insightful, and others essentially re-state what any layperson would know: e.g. The Thin Red Line was not marketed as successfully as Saving Private Ryan. I would definitely like to see more on the Malick-Heidegger connections, and less overly simplistic views of why Malick films are not commercial successes in America.

At times, the amateurish nature of some of these essays is transparent, like when two consecutive authors refer to the same shot as portraying the birth and the death of a bird. This is a point on which only one author is correct (it's not an ambiguous moment up for interpretation), and one would think that a serious critic would be able to establish what the shot was. Still, for fans of Malick, an artist who has been underexamined critically compared to his peers, this is a decent starting point.

[Stephenbailey7 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would guess that if you were to purchase this book, then you are already a fan of Terrence Malick's work. That being said, you should be able to find something in this collection of essay's that will deepen your understanding of his films.

[Matt · Rating 2 out of 5]

Most of the essays in this collection either lacked insight or were way off base (in my view) about how to interpret Malick's films. Chapter 11 is especially bad when it comes to Malick interpretation. This book appears to be a commissioned work for a series. And, in general, this book reads like it is filling some sort of role rather than really going deep into Malick's work.

There are couple of exceptions. The first essay is insightful, although Mottran does not go into very much depth concerning those insights. And chapter 8, which is about the music in Days of Heaven, is very interesting and insightful.

My lingering impression after reading this book is that more work needs to be done on Malick interpretation, especially now that The Tree of Life has come out.

[Jack Sinclair · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hard to complain about essays on films by my favorite director.