Terrence Malick - The Howard Hughes of Hollywood

1999 was a dream year for movie lovers. Three veteran directors, each of whom hadn't made a movie in over a decade, were releasing a new movie that year. George Lucas returned with the first installment of the "Star Wars" trilogy, "The Phantom Menace." It was Lucas' first film as director in 22 years but he had stayed in the limelight as he continued working as producer on such films as "The Empire Strikes Back," "Return of the Jedi," and the "Indiana Jones" trilogy. He was also noted for producing such colossal failures as "Howard the Duck" and Radioland Murders." Also back on the scene was Stanley Kubrick with his Tom Cruise/Nicole Kidman erotic thriller "Eyes Wide Shut." Kubrick had been in the movie news for three years since the project had been announced. Kubrick, infamous for taking his time making a movie, spent two years shooting the movie and, sadly, died the morning after studio executives got a look at the movie for the first time.

And then there was Terrence Malick. Malick was an acclaimed director in the 1970's who, after two movies, disappeared from the movie world for twenty years without a word of explanation. Malick became known as the Howard Hughes of the movie industry prompting a producer to exclaim in the mid 1990's, "I just know one day I will run into Terry and he will have gray hair down to his knees and fingernails a foot long." Actually Malick more resembles a high school history teacher with a balding head and gray beard.

In the early 1970's Malick would write and direct his first feature, "Badlands." The film was a huge critical hit but a box office bomb. He was hailed as a master filmmaker and regarded as one of the top directing talents on the horizon on a list that also included such names as Lucas, Martin Scorsese, Brian DePalma, William Friedkin, Francis Ford Coppola, Peter Bogdanovich and John Milius. Milius told Vanity Fair in a 1998 article that Malick was "far and away the best director in the group. And there isn't one of us that won't admit it."

Then as suddenly as Malick disappeared, he re-appeared with his usual lack of explanation.

Most people are unaware of Terrence Malick by name but you may have seen the few films he has created in the last 34 years. Malick is most famous for making movies that are very thin on plot to the point that he often ads narration just to keep the audience informed of what is happening. But his films are possibly the most beautiful you have ever seen. The photography makes for a visual feast unlike any three other movies you can see. Malick makes it a point to tell his cinematographer to make sure cameras are always rolling at "magic hour," that time of day or night when the sun is just rising or setting. Malick also instructs them to shoot in other places besides the actors in case of recording "beautiful accidents." You can bet there are dozens of "beautiful accidents" in every Terrence Malick film.

The Texas born Malick broke into movies as a writer. His first assignment was to write a full outline for "Dirty Harry" in 1971. It is believed but never confirmed (as is often the case with information regarding Malick) that none of his material was used in the final film, thus he is not credited. His first credit was for a long forgotten Paul Newman film called "Pocket Money." Dissatisfied with the way his original script was changed, Malick went to family to borrow $300,000 to cover the costs of "Badlands."

"Badlands" starred then unknown actors Martin Sheen and Sissy Spacek as young lovers who go on a killing spree and take life out on the road on the lam. The events were loosely inspired by the true-life story of Charles Starkweather, a spree killer in the 1950's. The film is less concerned with violence then with the characters and their inner workings - the things that motivate and control their thoughts and desires. At this point Malick was not yet reclusive as he freely did interviews during the shoot and after the release and even gave himself a one scene cameo in the movie as a salesman (Malick apparently stepped in when the actor who was cast failed to show up).

Despite the failure of "Badlands" Hollywood stood up and took notice. In early 1976 Malick began casting for his next movie, "Days of Heaven," and his first signs of disillusionment began. He originally dreamed of casting John Travolta (hoping to make him a star) and Genevieve Bujold in the lead roles. Travolta was shooting both his hit television series Welcome Back, Kotter and a supporting role in what would be his first box office hit, "Carrie." Bujold was also committed to another project and passed. If Malick had had his way he would have waited for his two stars to become available to him but the studio would not allow it. Unknown actors Richard Gere and Brooke Adams were cast in the role.

"Days of Heaven" tells the story of a pre-World War I love triangle between two men and a woman on a wheat farm at the time of the harvest. The story is secondary to the stunning visual beauty of the film, which was originally shot in 70MM. To watch it today on television is to see only half of a film. To those that say it's just the same seeing a movie on television as it is on a theater screen have never seen "Days of Heaven" on the big screen.

Malick finished the film in the fall of 1976 and proceeded to spend almost two full years editing the film. At some point he realized he had favored his visual style over a coherent plot and had to add narration throughout the film.

The film won a much-deserved Academy Award for its Cinematography and its main musical theme, by Ennio Morricone, is widely recognized today in other movie trailers and on television commercials. Much like Badlands," "Days of Heaven" was a smash with critics (some hailing it as one of the best films of the 1970's - Many hail it today as Malick's masterpiece) but failed to find a wide audience.

Then Terrence Malick disappeared without a word of explanation. He had always claimed he wanted to take a break from movies but few realized, and perhaps neither did Malick, that his break would last over 20 years.

Malick divided his time between his home in Austin, Texas and Paris. He taught in Paris from 1979-1994. Most confirm that Malick never left the movie business altogether and spent a good deal of his free time writing scripts that were either never produced or just put away and preparing projects that never saw the light of day. The only known project that Malick is rumored to have had a hand in was an early draft of the script for 1989's "Great Balls of Fire," starring Dennis Quaid as Jerry Lee Lewis.

Some believe he lost his passion for directing while others feel he simply wanted to explore the world and do other things with his life. It is reported that he saw the world including exploring ancient caves in Nepal and climbing the Swiss Alps. But all that time he maintained two apartments in Austin, one to live in and one to write in.

In the early 90's Malick worked on the screenplay for what would become his third film, "The Thin Red Line," based on the novel by James (From Here To Eternity) Jones. Malick's initial interest in the project was the screenplay only as he was more interested in returning to the director's chair for a smaller budgeted film. Somewhere along the line Malick fell in love with Jones' many characters, soldiers in WW II as they fight Guadalcanal and decided this would be his first film in two decades.

Malick officially announced he was looking for young actors to play the leads and soon was seeing every young actor in Hollywood, each one clamoring for a chance to meet and possibly work with the reclusive director. Malick met with such men as Nicolas Cage, Leonardo DiCaprio, Edward Norton, Matthew McConaughey, Brad Pitt, and Sean Penn. Penn was so intent on working with Malick he told the director, "Give me a dollar and tell me where to show up." Penn was the only of the listed men who was cast. Malick would eventually cast then unknowns Adrien Brody, Jim Caviezel, Ben Chaplin, Jared Leto, John C. Reilly and Nick Stahl to appear with such veterans as John Cusack, Nick Nolte, George Clooney, Woody Harrelson and John Travolta.

Once production began Malick allowed journalists onto his set to speak with the actors but refused any and all interview requests. Malick heartily welcomed speaking to these reporters off the record only. He also insisted that no on set photographers snap a picture of him that would be made public. One such picture slipped through the cracks and was seen in newspapers and magazines around the world. The same photograph was used at the Academy Awards and is also seen with this article (see sidebar photo). Malick became incensed when the photo was leaked and his set was closed to outsiders for the duration of the shoot (which turned out to only be a month).

Malick's first cut of the film was 6 hours long and featured a full-length narration by Billy Bob Thornton. As always Malick spent an exorbitant amount of time in the editing room and would finally emerge with a three-hour epic that barely resembled the original version. Thornton's narration was excised from the final cut and such actors as Bill Pullman, Gary Oldman, Viggo Mortensen and Mickey Rourke found their parts had been cut out of the film completely.

In the original book and script, Adrien Brody's character was the biggest but in the final film version Brody is often seen but has very few spoken lines. Once again Malick went for the visual beauty while making the story and characters secondary, and once again Malick pulled it off.

The slow pace and long length quickly turned off mainstream audiences but critics had a field day once again praising Terrence Malick for still having what it took to craft a masterful film after 20 years off. "The Thin Red Line," technically a 1998 film as it was released in New York and Los Angeles for Academy Award consideration but not released elsewhere until 1999, was nominated for 7 Academy Awards including Malick's first for Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay. The Director's Guild of America also nominated Malick for Best Director.

Because of Malick's hard-bitten desire for privacy he was reluctant to attend any of the award ceremonies. Fellow nominee Steven (Saving Private Ryan) Spielberg talked Malick into attending the DGA awards with him but Malick only agreed if they entered a side entrance away from the press and fans, and only because the event would not be televised. Because of the wide popularity of the Academy Awards, Malick informed Spielberg of his intention to avoid the ceremony at all costs. Neither Malick nor his film would win any awards.

Because of his disappearance, people often believe Malick to be an "oddball" or even "crazy." Those that know him, including the many actors on "The Thin Red Line" offered their thoughts on Malick. Everyone agrees he is far from "odd" or "crazy" and words like "funny" and "charming" are more often attributed to him. He loves his actors and plays a healthy father figure to each of them.

Thankfully for hardcore movie buffs, Malick decided to wait only 6 years before going into production on his fourth film, "The New World." Malick originally tackled the script in the mid 70's but put it away for almost 30 years. The story is set in the beginning of the Seventeenth Century where Captain John Smith (Colin Farrell) leaves the Jamestown fort to explore another area and trade with the Indians, but he is captured. The princess Pocahontas asks her father to spare Captain Smith's life and they fall in love with one another.

Once again Malick chose to live and die with his visuals and even shot the film completely with natural light, none artificially added. Stanley Kubrick pulled off a similar trick with the beautiful "Barry Lyndon."

Much like Malick's other films, "The New World" was a box office flop outside of die-hard fans and, for the first time, a Terrence Malick film was even met with some negative response from the critics. Much like "The Thin Red Line," "The New World" opened in limited release in December 2005 to qualify for the Academy Awards. The film received only one nomination, not surprisingly for Best Cinematography. It lost. This time Malick must have seen some cracks in the armor as he halted the wide release so he could edit the film down from 150 minutes to 135 minutes. This, apparently, made no difference to the public.

Movie lovers can continue to rejoice. Terrence Malick has announced his next film, "Tree of Life," will go into production this year with an expected release date of December 2008.

Malick turns 65 this year so any project he directs should be met with eager anticipation. His films may not appeal to mass audiences but he chooses to tell his stories visually to give his audience a rare movie going experience.

You may never see him on Jay Leno or David Letterman, or Oprah for that matter. You may never read an article on him in any magazine. But Terrence Malick has made his mark on the film world with touches that may never be duplicated again. He may be reclusive and he may work sparingly but the film world needs more filmmakers like Terrence Malick.

If only so we have movies that should be seen on the big screen.