{"id":9901,"date":"2010-05-19T06:00:38","date_gmt":"2010-05-19T06:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/?p=9901"},"modified":"2013-05-02T10:10:07","modified_gmt":"2013-05-02T14:10:07","slug":"the-magic-of-malick","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/?p=9901","title":{"rendered":"The Magic of Malick"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"malick\"<\/p>\n

Four films.\u00a0Four films over a 37 year span.\u00a0That\u2019s all it took for Terrence Malick<\/a> to make his mark as a uniquely original filmmaking master.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know how many thousands of films have been made in the medium\u2019s 100+ year history, but these four are unmistakably distinguishable as works of Terrence Malick.<\/p>\n

It is hard to be an original in an industry with as much turnover as the movie business, but Malick is one of a kind.\u00a0 His films (1973\u2032s Badlands<\/a>, 1978\u2032s Days of Heaven<\/a>, 1998\u2032s The Thin Red Line<\/a>, and 2005\u2032s The New World<\/a>) feature a trademark style that is all his own.\u00a0 A loosely spun narrative structure, stunning imagery and profound voiceovers are all common to his expertly crafted tales of morality.\u00a0 His films double as masterpieces of entertainment and thought-provoking lessons in philosophy.<\/p>\n

You don\u2019t just watch a Malick movie, you experience it.\u00a0 His masterful camerawork puts the viewer firmly in the center of his story.\u00a0 We are working the wheat fields alongside Richard Gere in Days of Heaven, hiding in the tall grass with John Cusack in The Thin Red Line, and chasing Pocahontas through the woods in The New World.\u00a0 Malick recognizes our connection to the surrounding environment, our dependency on nature.\u00a0 We must work in unison with that environment to achieve our goals, to survive.<\/p>\n

Malick\u2019s camera is a subjective one.\u00a0 Each shot comes from a particular perspective.\u00a0 Each shot has a purpose.\u00a0 This subjectivity is echoed in the voiceovers of his characters.\u00a0 I\u2019m usually not a fan of voice overs.\u00a0 I often consider them a lazy cop-out for conveying messages and feelings that aren\u2019t being enforced strongly enough through the film\u2019s poor acting and visual representation.\u00a0 Take this voiceover from Twilight for example:<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cAbout three things I was absolutely positive: First, Edward was a vampire. Second, there was a part of him-and I didn\u2019t know how dominant that part might be-that thirsted for my blood. And third, I was unconditionally and irrevocably in love with him.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Have these issues not already been established?\u00a0 We already know Edward is a vampire.\u00a0 We\u2019ve been watching the damn movie.\u00a0 Isn\u2019t she already conveying this attraction and confusion through her acting?\u00a0 Apparently not.<\/p>\n

In Malick\u2019s films, the voiceover is much less a narrative tool than it is a component of the film\u2019s score.\u00a0 These words and voices are as beautiful as the accompanying imagery.\u00a0 He tends to use the voiceover in one of two ways, both of which are unlike any other director\u2019s use of the element.<\/p>\n

First, as in The Thin Red Line and The New World, we get voiceovers from a number of different characters\u00a0 These characters aren\u2019t just explaining the events or their feelings towards them, they are painting a picture of their philosophical makeup.\u00a0 What is love?\u00a0 What is the point of this particular mission, of my existence, of life?\u00a0 We get the perspectives of several central characters, witnesses from different angles.\u00a0 Malick is challenging us to search for our deepest values and evaluate our own morals.\u00a0 How would we react in this situation?<\/p>\n

Second, as in Badlands and Days of Heaven, he uses a singular secondary character as the narrator of the story.\u00a0 Days of Heaven is told through the eyes of an objective onlooker, the young sister of Richard Gere\u2019s character.\u00a0 She is innocent and not yet versed in all the evils of the world, without a clear understanding of the complexity of the love triangle that is central to the film\u2019s plot.\u00a0 Yet, the only deeper truths we hear through the audio track is what she can report.\u00a0 Malick doesn\u2019t want to force us to take sides in the push-pull of the film\u2019s major conflict.<\/p>\n

Our guide in Badlands is Sissy Spacek\u2019s character, who suddenly finds herself in the center of a whirlwind when her boyfriend (Martin Sheen)\u00a0 embarks on a killing spree.\u00a0 She is naive, confused and is completely unaware of the inner workings of her serial killing husband.\u00a0 She doesn\u2019t understand his lack of value for human life, which is perfect because no one really does.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Malick doesn\u2019t drive the narrative like most directors do, hitting plotlines like checkmarks along the way.\u00a0 He lets the viewers be their own drivers, with the characters on-screen serving as the passengers in each viewer\u2019s interpretation of the story.\u00a0 There are moments in The New World<\/em> where several years are lost in a single cut without any mention of a time lapse.\u00a0 Where did those years go, and what happened to the characters during that time frame?\u00a0 That is for us to decide.<\/p>\n

Malick\u2019s films aren\u2019t overly long (Badlands <\/em>and <\/em>Days of Heaven <\/em>are each just around 90 minutes) but they all feel like epics, largely because he is so meticulous with his editing.\u00a0 It is the weight and density of the film that is important, not the length of the reel.\u00a0 He packs more meaning into each frame, creating the sensation you would get from a lengthy epic without exhausting the endurance of his audience.\u00a0 Some of his shots look like he waited weeks, even months, for his ideal combination of cloud cover and solar angle.\u00a0 Every frame is the portrait of perfection.<\/p>\n

I love to be challenged by a movie, to be fully immersed in the viewing experience.\u00a0 Some movies are over, and they just end.\u00a0 Other movies force me to sit and ponder, to attempt to gather my thoughts as the credits roll, to re-evaluate my entire outlook on life.\u00a0 These are the films of Terrence Malick.<\/p>\n

Kevin Blumeyer is just your average full-time college student and part-time video store clerk. \u00a0While his ultimate goal is to become a professional writer, his passions for writing and film can currently be sampled at his blog, <\/em>The Pork Chop Express<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Four films.\u00a0Four films over a 37 year span.\u00a0That\u2019s all it took for Terrence Malick to make his mark as a uniquely original filmmaking master.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know how many thousands of films have been made in the medium\u2019s 100+ year…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":9902,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[5595,1602],"coauthors":[1710],"class_list":["post-9901","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-movie-articles","tag-movie-directors","tag-terrence-malick"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Magic of Malick - MovieFanFare<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/?p=9901\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Magic of Malick - MovieFanFare\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Four films.\u00a0Four films over a 37 year span.\u00a0That\u2019s all it took for Terrence Malick to make his mark as a uniquely original filmmaking master.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know how many thousands of films have been made in the medium\u2019s 100+ year...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/?p=9901\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"MovieFanFare\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pages\/Movies-Unlimited\/88679322377\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-05-19T06:00:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-05-02T14:10:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/malick.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"223\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"298\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"guest-blogs\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"guest-blogs\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moviefanfare.com\\\/?p=9901#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moviefanfare.com\\\/?p=9901\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"guest-blogs\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.moviefanfare.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b6e5289d8e138a3b8a39e674487e681b\"},\"headline\":\"The Magic of Malick\",\"datePublished\":\"2010-05-19T06:00:38+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-05-02T14:10:07+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moviefanfare.com\\\/?p=9901\"},\"wordCount\":987,\"commentCount\":2,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moviefanfare.com\\\/?p=9901#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.moviefanfare.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2010\\\/05\\\/malick.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Movie Directors\",\"Terrence Malick\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Movie Articles\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moviefanfare.com\\\/?p=9901#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moviefanfare.com\\\/?p=9901\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moviefanfare.com\\\/?p=9901\",\"name\":\"The Magic of Malick - 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