Terrence Malick

Directing

Terrence Malick

Born 1943-11-30 · Ottawa, Illinois, USA

Terrence Malick (born November 30, 1943) is an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. In a career spanning over five decades, Malick has directed nine feature films. He is known for his singular style that combines loose narrative and editing structure with spiritual themes. Malick made his feature film debut with Badlands (1973), a crime drama loosely inspired by the Starkweather-Fugate murders. He followed it with Days of Heaven (1978), a lyrical period drama about migrant laborers in the Texas Panhandle, which earned widespread acclaim for its cinematography. After this success, Malick took a two-decade hiatus from filmmaking before returning with The Thin Red Line (1998), an ensemble war epic set during the Battle of Guadalcanal, based on the novel of the same name by James Jones. The film was nominated for seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, Best Original Score and Best Sound. He continued with The New World (2005), a meditative historical drama depicting the story of Pocahontes and the founding of Jamestown. Malick achieved critical prominence with The Tree of Life (2011), an ambitious family drama that won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival and is frequently cited as one of the greatest films of the 21st century. This was followed by a series of more experimental, impressionistic works including To the Wonder (2012), Knight of Cups (2015), and Song to Song (2017), which explored themes of love, faith, and modern alienation through fragmented narrative and visual storytelling. Malick also directed the large-scale documentary Voyage of Time (2016), a cosmic history of the universe released in both IMAX and feature-length versions. He later returned to historical drama with A Hidden Life (2019), about Austrian conscientious objector Franz Jägerstätter during World War II. In addition to his feature films, Malick has directed several high-profile commercials, including Mon Guerlain - Notes of a Woman (2017), a short film-style spot for Google Pixel 3 (2018), a nature-focused Ford commercial (2021) and a brand film for Louis Vuitton's USA campaign (2022).

Acting credits

Ennio poster
8.3

A portrait of Ennio Morricone, the most popular and prolific film composer of the 20th century, the one most loved by the international public, a two-time Oscar winner and the author of over five hundred unforgettable scores.

Ennio

2022

Badlands poster
7.5

An impressionable teenage girl from a dead-end town and her older greaser boyfriend embark on a killing spree in the South Dakota badlands.

Badlands

1974

Days of Heaven poster
7.5

In 1916, a Chicago steel worker accidentally kills his supervisor and flees to the Texas panhandle with his girlfriend and little sister to work harvesting wheat in the fields of a stoic farmer.

Days of Heaven

1978

Pocket Money poster
5.6

Broke and in debt, an otherwise honest cowboy and his buddy get mixed up in some shady dealings with a crooked cattle dealer.

Pocket Money

1972

Rosy-Fingered Dawn: A Film on Terrence Malick poster
7.0

Rosy-Fingered Dawn is a film on Terrence Malick. It is about the making of BADLANDS, DAYS OF HEAVEN, THE THIN RED LINE and the personal involvement of some of the most representative figures of the American culture itself. This medley of voices has given origin to a journey throughout the whole United States, from California to Colorado, from Virginia to Minnesota, passing by New York and Los Angeles. Every stop represents an ideal set in which all the characters of the films come to life once again giving place to a growing flow of memories. The narrative dimension of Malick's cinema resounds and opens a new horizon on the visible contradictions of the American culture; no easy judgement but a critical consciousness is what emerges from this coral speech, together with a definite need: the necessity of art. A need that Terrence Malick was able to satisfy.

Rosy-Fingered Dawn: A Film on Terrence Malick

2002

Lanton Mills poster
8.0

Two cowboy desperados attempt to hold up a modern-day bank in this absurd western.

Lanton Mills

1969

Behind the camera

The Tree of Life poster
6.7

The impressionistic story of a Texas family in the 1950s. The film follows the life journey of the eldest son, Jack, through the innocence of childhood to his disillusioned adult years as he tries to reconcile a complicated relationship with his father. Jack finds himself a lost soul in the modern world, seeking answers to the origins and meaning of life while questioning the existence of faith.

The Tree of Life

2011

The Tree of Life poster
6.7

The impressionistic story of a Texas family in the 1950s. The film follows the life journey of the eldest son, Jack, through the innocence of childhood to his disillusioned adult years as he tries to reconcile a complicated relationship with his father. Jack finds himself a lost soul in the modern world, seeking answers to the origins and meaning of life while questioning the existence of faith.

The Tree of Life

2011

The Thin Red Line poster
7.4

The story of a group of men, an Army Rifle company called C-for-Charlie, who change, suffer, and ultimately make essential discoveries about themselves during the fierce World War II battle of Guadalcanal. It follows their journey, from the surprise of an unopposed landing, through the bloody and exhausting battles that follow, to the ultimate departure of those who survived.

The Thin Red Line

1998

The Thin Red Line poster
7.4

The story of a group of men, an Army Rifle company called C-for-Charlie, who change, suffer, and ultimately make essential discoveries about themselves during the fierce World War II battle of Guadalcanal. It follows their journey, from the surprise of an unopposed landing, through the bloody and exhausting battles that follow, to the ultimate departure of those who survived.

The Thin Red Line

1998

Song to Song poster
5.5

In this modern love story set against the Austin, Texas music scene, two entangled couples — struggling songwriters Faye and BV, and music mogul Cook and the waitress whom he ensnares — chase success through a rock ‘n’ roll landscape of seduction and betrayal.

Song to Song

2017

Song to Song poster
5.5

In this modern love story set against the Austin, Texas music scene, two entangled couples — struggling songwriters Faye and BV, and music mogul Cook and the waitress whom he ensnares — chase success through a rock ‘n’ roll landscape of seduction and betrayal.

Song to Song

2017

A Hidden Life poster
7.2

Austrian farmer Franz Jägerstätter faces the threat of execution for refusing to fight for the Nazis during World War II.

A Hidden Life

2019

A Hidden Life poster
7.2

Austrian farmer Franz Jägerstätter faces the threat of execution for refusing to fight for the Nazis during World War II.

A Hidden Life

2019

Badlands poster
7.5

An impressionable teenage girl from a dead-end town and her older greaser boyfriend embark on a killing spree in the South Dakota badlands.

Badlands

1974

Badlands poster
7.5

An impressionable teenage girl from a dead-end town and her older greaser boyfriend embark on a killing spree in the South Dakota badlands.

Badlands

1974

Badlands poster
7.5

An impressionable teenage girl from a dead-end town and her older greaser boyfriend embark on a killing spree in the South Dakota badlands.

Badlands

1974

Che: Part Two poster
6.6

Seven years after his triumph in Cuba, Che winds up in Bolivia, where he tries to ignite the same revolutionary fires as before.

Che: Part Two

2008

The New World poster
6.5

A drama about explorer John Smith and the clash between Native Americans and English settlers in the 17th century.

The New World

2005

The New World poster
6.5

A drama about explorer John Smith and the clash between Native Americans and English settlers in the 17th century.

The New World

2005

To the Wonder poster
5.8

Neil is torn between two loves: Marina, the European woman who comes to the United States to be with him, and Jane, the old flame from his hometown he reconnects with. Neil’s doubts about his life and loves are reflected in the crisis of faith experienced by Father Quintana, who only sees pain and the loss of hope in the world.

To the Wonder

2013

To the Wonder poster
5.8

Neil is torn between two loves: Marina, the European woman who comes to the United States to be with him, and Jane, the old flame from his hometown he reconnects with. Neil’s doubts about his life and loves are reflected in the crisis of faith experienced by Father Quintana, who only sees pain and the loss of hope in the world.

To the Wonder

2013

Knight of Cups poster
5.7

Rick is a screenwriter living in Los Angeles. While successful in his career, his life feels empty. Haunted and confused, he finds temporary solace in the decadent Hollywood excess that defines his existence. Women provide a distraction to his daily pain, and every encounter brings him closer to finding his place in the world.

Knight of Cups

2015

Knight of Cups poster
5.7

Rick is a screenwriter living in Los Angeles. While successful in his career, his life feels empty. Haunted and confused, he finds temporary solace in the decadent Hollywood excess that defines his existence. Women provide a distraction to his daily pain, and every encounter brings him closer to finding his place in the world.

Knight of Cups

2015

Days of Heaven poster
7.5

In 1916, a Chicago steel worker accidentally kills his supervisor and flees to the Texas panhandle with his girlfriend and little sister to work harvesting wheat in the fields of a stoic farmer.

Days of Heaven

1978

Days of Heaven poster
7.5

In 1916, a Chicago steel worker accidentally kills his supervisor and flees to the Texas panhandle with his girlfriend and little sister to work harvesting wheat in the fields of a stoic farmer.

Days of Heaven

1978

Voyage of Time: Life's Journey poster
6.3

A celebration of the universe, displaying the whole of time, from its start to its final collapse. This film examines all that occurred to prepare the world that stands before us now: science and spirit, birth and death, the grand cosmos and the minute life systems of our planet.

Voyage of Time: Life's Journey

2017

Voyage of Time: Life's Journey poster
6.3

A celebration of the universe, displaying the whole of time, from its start to its final collapse. This film examines all that occurred to prepare the world that stands before us now: science and spirit, birth and death, the grand cosmos and the minute life systems of our planet.

Voyage of Time: Life's Journey

2017

Undertow poster
6.1

The Munns, father John and sons Chris and Tim, recede to the woods of rural Georgia. Their life together is forever changed with the arrival of Uncle Deel, though the tragedy that follows forces troubled Chris to become a man.

Undertow

2004

Amazing Grace poster
6.9

The true story of William Wilberforce and his courageous quest to end the British slave trade. Along the way, Wilberforce meets intense opposition, but his minister urges him to see the cause through.

Amazing Grace

2006