Terrence Malick (born November 30, 1943, Ottawa, Illinois) is an enigmatic American film director, screenwriter, and film producer.

His reputation as a filmmaker rests primarily on the three features he has directed:

• Badlands (1973);
• Days of Heaven (1978);
• The Thin Red Line (1998).

Both Badlands and Days of Heaven are considered masterpieces of the Hollywood Renaissance .

Malick's work is often characterized by naturalist cinematography and a meditative directorial and editing style.

Malick grew up in Oklahoma and Texas before studying philosophy at Harvard University. After graduating he went to Magdalen College, Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar. He moved back to the United States and taught philosophy at Massachusetts Institute of Technology while freelancing as a journalist. He got his start in film after being accepted at the American Film Institute in 1969.

In addition to his talent, Malick's elusiveness and paucity of output has made him a living legend. After directing his first two features he disappeared from public view for 20 years, and he has only directed three features in his entire career. Even after his re-emergence, his contracts stipulate that no current pictures of him are to be published and that he is not obligated to do any personal promotion for his films.

In 2005 he is directing The New World, which is partly based on the story of Pocahontas and is scheduled for release in November 2005.

External links

• The Flicks of Terrence Malick Resource on Malick's life and work
• Trailer for The New World