Legendary director Terrence Malick has commented about returning to his old style of filmmaking, and a move back to a definite script for his upcoming movies.
The mercurial director, who would once take great leaps of time between his movies, was known for his thematically compelling and visually beautiful films such as Days of Heaven, Badlands, and The Thin Red Line.
In more recent times, he has moved away from the restricting confines of a traditional plot, shooting his movies with barely any preparation and without a clear script.
But with his latest efforts To the Wonder, Knight of Cups, and Song to Song not being received as well as he would have liked, it looks like Malick will be returning to the methods that made him the icon that he is.
Malick talked specifically about his upcoming WWII film Radegund — which will be showing at Cannes this May — at Washington D.C.’s Air and Space Museum – recounted by Alex Withrow for And So It Begins.
“Well, in this case, there was a script, which was the evolutionary history of the universe,” Malick said, referring to Voyage of Time.“And lately – I keep insisting, only very lately – have I been working without a script and I’ve lately repented the idea. The last picture we shot [Radegund], and we’re now cutting, went back to a script that was very well ordered”.
Malick then went on to say, “There’s a lot of strain when working without a script because you can lose track of where you are. It’s very hard to coordinate with others who are working on the film. Production designers and location managers arrive in the morning and don’t know what we’re going to shoot or where we’re going to shoot. The reason we did it was to try and get moments that are spontaneous and free. As a movie director, you always feel with a script that you’re trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. And with no script, there’s no round hole, there’s just air. But I’m backing away from that style now”.
This will be very pleasing news for those who appreciate the beautiful visuals of Malicks’s recent attempts but long for the glory days of his past, more structured films.
Whether this change will bring about the success he is looking for will remain to be seen. It is interesting news none the less.
Originally published April 7, 2017. Updated April 15, 2018.
