The terrence malick appreciation page
Who is Terrence Malick? Nobody knows. But then again, who needs to know - and how much - is an interesting question, to which Malick's answers seems to be: nothing.
What is readily obvious about Malick is that he is a film-director, born in Texas in 1943, and has directed four films: Badlands (1973), Days of Heaven (1976), The Thin Red Line (1998) and The New World (2005.) Malick's films have all been described as singular masterpieces by an array of critics. He is distinguished by many people as an artist of extraordinary talent, whose films each indelibily mark, haunt and awaken. Malick has also had a career as a professional Philosopher. He studied Philosophy at Harvard as an undergraduate, and began a B.Phil in the subject at Oxford, but decided to leave after differences with his supervisor. He then taught at M.I.T. for a year, and produced the definitive translation of Heidegger's The Essence of Reasons (Wom Wesen des Grundes) in 1969.
Little is known about why Malick made the transition to film, nor what he was doing during his 25 year absence from cinema. However, perhaps the speculation about these details is ill-founded: his contributions to cinema are worth contemplating for what they are; as for who he is, this is a rather overindulged subject.
We hope you enjoy this web site, dedicated to the contemplation of, and reflection on Malick's enigmatic and breathtaking inventions.