Director Terrence Malick has a rather recognizable creative style. His debut in big cinema was the movie Wasteland (1973), now considered a cult film. In total, he has already shot nine films so far. And for one of them (for the film "The Tree of Life") he was awarded the "Golden Palm".
Early biography
Terrence Malick was born in 1943 in the American town of Ottawa (Illinois) in the family of Irene and Emil Malik. The paternal grandparents of the future director were Assyrian Christians who came to the United States from Iran.
Malik is known to have attended St. Stephen's Episcopal School in Austin, Texas. And after high school, he was enrolled in the Faculty of Philosophy at Harvard University.
After Harvard, Terrence was a journalist for a while. In this capacity, he spoke with Haitian dictator François Duvalier (aka “Papa Doc”) and spent several months in Bolivia, where he followed the trial of the French leftist philosopher Régis Debre, who was tried for his connection with Che Guevara and his squad.
In 1969, he moved to Los Angeles and entered the American Film Institute. And in the same 1969, Malik shot the short film "Lanton Mills".
In the early seventies, Terrence showed himself in Hollywood primarily as a screenwriter. In particular, there is evidence that he had a hand in the early version of the script for the police action movie Don Siegel "Dirty Harry" (although in the credits it was not indicated).
And in 1972, Stuart Rosenberg's film Pocket Money appeared on the big screens, and Malik also worked on its script. However, the film ultimately received not very good box office and reviews.
From Wasteland to Thin Red Line
In the summer of 1972, Malik began shooting his first feature film, Wasteland. The basis for it was the real story of the criminal Charles Starkweather and his beloved Caryl Fugate.
The main characters of this film are young Keith and Holly (played by Martin Sheen and Sissy Spacek). They live in the American wilderness and think they love each other. Holly's father is not happy with the fact that his daughter is seeing Keith, and forbids them to meet. All this ultimately leads to tragedy - Keith kills the dad of his beloved. And then the couple starts to flee through the endless American wastelands … The picture was first shown in 1973 at the New York Film Festival, after which they immediately started talking about the aspiring director.
However, Malik's next film did not appear until five years later. It was called "Days of Harvest". This film is distinguished by a very beautiful visual component. Many even pointed out that the "picture" here suppresses the plot to some extent. For this film, Malik received the Cannes Film Festival prize for Best Director. And it was not at all a trivial event, because the last time before Malik, a filmmaker from the United States received such a prize more than 20 years ago.
Following this resounding success, Malik was offered $ 1,000,000 to direct his next film at Paramount Pictures. Malik had already begun to prepare for filming, but at some point he suddenly dropped everything and went to Europe, to Paris. Here he began to lead the life of a recluse, preferring not to communicate with journalists.
The director's next film, The Thin Red Line, was released only in 1998 (that is, twenty years after The Harvest Days). The film is based on the novel of the same name by the writer James Jones on the theme of World War II. One of the clear advantages of this large-scale film (by the way, it lasts a whole 170 minutes) is a good casting. In particular, George Clooney, Adrian Brody and Sean Penn played here. The shooting of Thin Red Line took place mostly in the Australian forests and the Solomon Islands.
The film received positive press from critics and was nominated for seven Academy Awards. Moreover, Malik himself was personally nominated twice - as a director and as a scriptwriter. But in the end he did not get a single figurine. But for this tape he was awarded the main award of the Berlin Film Festival - "Golden Bear".
Terrence Malick in the 21st century
Malik's fourth film, New World, was released in 2005. This picture takes viewers back to the 17th century and tells about the first settlement of the British in North America, as well as a meeting with the indigenous inhabitants of these places - the Indians.
The film is characterized by a leisurely narrative, as well as a large number of picturesque shots. This film was directed by Emmanuel Lubezki. And subsequently he worked with Malik on several more paintings.
The director's next project is the film The Tree of Life. This is a family drama and an abstract philosophical parable at the same time. The main character here recalls his long-gone childhood. And through these memories, it is clearly shown how a small child, to whom the world around him is kind and beautiful, for the first time encounters such things as suffering and death … The drama premiered at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival, where it received the Palme d'Or. Moreover, The Tree of Life was nominated for an Oscar in three nominations - Best Cinematography, Best Director and Best Film.
After that, Malik began to release his paintings much more often. In 2012, the film "To a Miracle" was released. The plot is simple: Neil (Ben Affleck) and Marina (Olga Kurylenko) are married, but their relationship is in crisis. And so they both have romances on the side. And in their attempts to regain their former love, they turn to the priest for help … In general, we can say that this is another very poetic, almost plotless work of Malik. And, by the way, not all critics reacted favorably to her. Many blamed the tape for its pretentiousness and pathos, talked about the secondary and banality of some moments. On the other hand, there were also those who considered this creation by Malik to be very deep and masterful.
In 2015, Malik's new film, Knight of Cups, was presented to the public. The main character here is a certain successful screenwriter (played by Christian Bale), who, despite his success, this character feels superfluous and tries to find his place in the world.
A year later, in 2016, Malik's documentary "Time Travel" premiered at the Venice Film Festival. In it, viewers are introduced to the colorful history of the Universe - from its inception to destruction. It is worth noting that this film exists in two versions. The 40-minute version was created specifically for IMAX cinemas and was called "Voyage of Time: The IMAX Experience." A version for conventional cinemas was also made. It was 90 minutes long and officially titled Voyage of Time: Life’s Journey. It should be added that the long version was generally received less favorably by critics and audiences than the short version.
In 2017, Malik again delighted fans of his work - his melodrama "Song by Song" was released on the screens. It told the story of several young people striving for musical fame and the tangled relationship that arose between them. Such famous film actors as Christian Bale, Natalie Portman and Ryan Gosling starred in this film.
And finally, in May 2019, the premiere of Malik's ninth feature film, the historical drama The Secret Life, took place. This drama is based on the biography of the Austrian Franz Jägerstätter. He became famous for the fact that he conscientiously and publicly refused military service in the Wehrmacht during the Second World War. As a result, in 1943 he was executed. And later he was proclaimed a martyr and canonized. At the 2019 Cannes Film Festival, this film was considered a contender for the Palme d'Or. But in the end, this award was given to the South Korean film "Parasites" (directed by Pong Chung Ho).
Personal life
Malik does not advertise his private life and regularly declines interview requests. But at the same time, the general public still knows something.
From 1970 to 1976, Terrence Malick was married to Jill Jakes.
In 1980, in Paris, he met Michelle Marie Morette and married her five years later. This marriage lasted until 1996 (and the divorce was initiated by Malik).
In 1998, the filmmaker once again tied the knot - this time his wife was Alexandra Wallace, whom Terrence had known since his school years. This relationship continues to this day.
And Malik's place of residence at the moment is the Texas town of Austin, where, in fact, the filmmaker spent his childhood.
