Terrence Malick (born November 30, 1943 in Waco, Texas) is an enigmatic Assyrian-American film director, screenwriter, and producer. He has also studied and taught philosophy, and has produced several writings in the field. Although notoriously withdrawn from public life, friends such as Martin Sheen have always remarked that he is a very warm and humble man who prefers to work without media intrusion. Malick has directed five films; of these, only four are feature-length:
Lanton Mills (a short film, 1969); Badlands (1973); Days of Heaven (1978); The Thin Red Line (1998); The New World (2005); Badlands and Days of Heaven are considered masterpieces of the Hollywood Renaissance, and Malick was nominated for an Academy Award for both Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Director for The Thin Red Line. His work is often characterized by naturalist cinematography and a meditative directorial and editing style, but his love of lingering, repetitive nature shots has led to complaints that his films, although beautiful, are often overlong and ponderous; this is especially true of The Thin Red Line and The New World. He makes extensive use of off-screen narration by his characters to illuminate and counterpoint the action on screen. His contracts stipulate that no current photographs of him are to be published and that he is not obligated to do any personal promotion for his films.
The New World (2005)
