More on Malick: The Power of Image

Dive deeper into Terrence Malick: Examining Single Frames // Recommended Video Essays on Malick // Where to Start With His Films.

Hi, I’m Thomas Flight. This is my bi-monthly blog/newsletter where I explore film and media, often going deeper into the topics of recent videos. My latest video examines the motivation behind the unique style of director Terrence Malick. To build on that essay in this issue I’ll be examining a few examples of Malick’s use of image and composition, then I’ll be recommending some additional resources for further exploring Malick’s work, and finally giving my recommendation for where to start with his films if you want to explore on your own.

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“Just” an Image?

Cinema is a medium of image and sound. But for some reason, conversational dialogue - one narrow use out of the broad possibilities of image and sound - dominates the medium. It’s filmmakers like Terrence Malick, who cut the medium’s ties to theater and literature and approach it as something wholly unique, that produce some of the most stunning, inventive, and symbolic images in cinema.

Critics of Malick often push aside his films as “just pretty images” or “pretty nature photography.” I think these critics are wrong for two reasons. First, there’s more story and meaning in his films than just beauty and nature if you’re willing to participate. And second, aren’t nature and beauty worthy subjects, perhaps woefully underexamined by cinema?

Why are there so many shots of characters looking upwards in Malick’s films? Is Malick attempting to direct the viewer’s gaze skyward? Is he asking us to examine what causes the characters to turn their gaze upward? Perhaps both. A moment from A Hidden Life might provide a clue to Malick’s motivation:

I discuss this scene more in more depth in a past issue of this newsletter. I think Malick’s primary interest is in capturing the moments where people’s attention is shifted beyond where it normally lies, towards the consideration of something greater…

..or the mundane. Another motif is images of the interiors of houses, architecture, or landscape that surround us. Subject matter that often only appear in Film when they serve the purpose of “establishing a location.” Here they become a subject themselves, not just signposts in the advancement of the plot. I think Malick is pointing us towards the beauty all around us that we tend to overlook. And is also capturing those moments when we find ourselves in contemplation. Alone, in an empty house, as sunlight fades, when you’re caught in a sudden moment of self-examination.

Malick’s films often contain many images of characters seemingly wandering aimlessly. I think it is the contemplation and reflection that happens, both as a result of solitude, boredom, and quiet, and as a result of encountering art or nature, that Malick is interested in.

In my recent video about Malick’s style, I talk about how the wide-angle lenses and deep focus keep the characters grounded in the environment that surrounds them. But what is the significance of this? In A Hidden Life, the environment plays a significant role in the film’s conflict. The beauty of the incredible Austrian landscape, ever-present early in the film, takes on a symbolic quality, representing the peace that is being violated by war and violence. As the Nazis invade, we hear the airplanes encroach on the landscape. In being called up for war, Franz is both literally and symbolically being pulled out of the beautiful and peaceful way of life he holds.

The openness and vast beauty of the landscape early in the film stands in stark contrast to the enclosed, cramped spaces of the prisons later on.

If Malick’s cinematography was more conventional. Where narrow close-ups let the surrounding landscape fall into blurry bokeh, the immediacy of this reality would be less apparent.

Recommended Resources on Malick:

Some of you who are new may not know that I’ve touched on Malick’s work in the past. First in a video examining his visual obsessions in To The Wonder, Knight of Cups, and Song To Song. And later in a video looking at the development of his style through the lens of his first film, Badlands.

The only person on YouTube who’s covered Malick more than I have is Tom from Like Stories of Old. They’re all great, but I highly recommend his examination of Tree of Life, and his essay examining Malick’s work in relation to Heidegger, a philosopher who Malick did work translating as a scholar before becoming a filmmaker. If you’re insatiable his video on Knight of Cups through the lens of Kierkegaard’s existentialism is also great.

(Here’s a playlist of all the video essays about Malick from both our channels)

Infamous essayist kogonada also has a great video on Malick’s use of fire and water.

Integral to my research on this latest video was the book All Things Shining: An Oral History of The Films of Terrence Malick (affiliate link). It’s a collection of interviews with the cast and crew for each of Malick’s films up to Song-To-Song. And it’s invaluable if you want a glimpse into what it’s actually like to work on set with Malick. It perfectly captures what people find brilliant and frustrating about Malick’s way of working. The interviews are often contradictory and don’t shy away from the frustration many people have experienced working with him.

There’s also a great video essay from one of my favorite critics, Matt Zoller Seitz, on the Criterion Collection edition of Tree of Life.

Where to Start with Malick, An Introduction to his Filmography:

I got quite a few comments on this recent video from people who were saying it inspired them to watch more Malick or explore his work for the first time, which is great to hear! So I wanted to provide a quick overview of his filmography and where you might want to start so you don’t get overwhelmed.

Malick made two films in the 70s and then disappeared until the 90s. These first two films Badlands and Days of Heaven, are amazing, influential, and were a key part of the New Hollywood movement. While Malick’s work was already unique and individual in these films, in some ways they are quite conventional compared to some of his more recent work.

In the 90s Malick returned with Thin Red Line, a contemplative WWII film that unfortunately got somewhat overlooked in part because it came out the same year as Saving Private Ryan. Here we begin to see Malick’s contemporary style take shape. Thin Red Line is one of my favorite of Malick’s films, and in my opinion, one of the best war films ever made.

After that Malick made another historical drama, The New World, this time centering around the story of Pocahontas and the colonial settlement of Virginia. Here Malick’s contemporary style really seems to emerge. This is not the Pocahontas you grew up with. Malick’s dedication to shooting in locations that accurately reflect the Virginia landscape, and working with many indigenous peoples to try to accurately portray the natives in the film, as well as the choice to center the story in many ways around their perspective makes it one of the more nuanced and thoughtful portrayals of the story in popular media.

Then came Tree of Life, which really cemented Malick’s voice as one of the most unique contemporary directors. Tree of Life takes the visual and structural elements developed in The New World and pushes them to their limit with a massively ambitious scale. The film takes you on a journey through a middle-aged man’s memories of his suburban childhood in the 50s- and juxtaposes that with the creation of the cosmos. If it sounds wild, that’s because it is. Tree of Life is a masterpiece and essential viewing for anyone interested in film.

Malick followed that up with a trilogy of films set in the present. To The Wonder, Knight of Cups, and Song To Song touch on different thematic content, but they have a similar style and feel. This is where Malick really started abandoning working with any kind of real script. These are polarizing films, you might love them, or you might hate them. Personally, Knight of Cups is one of my favorites of Malick’s, while To The Wonder is my least favorite. One thing I will say is that the cast for this trilogy is stacked. Christian Bale, Natalie Portman, Cate Blanchett, Ryan Gosling, Mara Rooney, Javier Bardem, Rachel McAdams, and Imogen Poots all make appearances. So if nothing else you get to watch the result of talented performers working in an unusual environment, and outside their comfort zone.

Then Malick returned to form a bit with another historical drama, A Hidden Life. My personal favorite of Malick’s and one of my favorite films of all time. A Hidden Life in some ways feels like a stylistic merger between what he was doing in Thin Red Line and The New World, with the philosophical musing of the contemporary trilogy, and in many ways, for me, it feels like a sweet spot.

Oh yeah, he also made an IMAX documentary called Voyage of Time, which is essentially a 60-minute version of the “Creation Sequence” in Tree of Life. Unfortunately, it’s really hard to find, and it’s not that great in my opinion.

So where do you start? In my opinion Tree of Life, A Hidden Life, Thin Red Line, and Days of Heaven are essential viewing, in that order. If you like the “historical stuff” like Thin Red Line, definitely check out The New World and Badlands as well. If the philosophical/spiritual themes of Tree of Life and A Hidden Life appeal to you, watch Knight of Cups, and if you like that definitely check out To The Wonder and Song to Song as well.

That’s just my personal experience, I’m sure many would disagree. But that’s one of the unique things about Malick’s work. Whether it connects with you is often very personal. What seems profound and gripping to one viewer, might be boring to another. So check out what looks interesting to you, and if you don’t like the first one, give a different one a chance!

Thanks to everyone for watching and your ongoing support of my work. I really appreciate it. Getting to talking about these things for a living is something I’m very grateful for and it’s only possible because of you.

Grace and Peace,

TF