Terrence Malick films have been released at widely different points and to wild, at times rhapsodic praise. His first two releases, Badlands (1973) and Days of Heaven (1978) were heralded as masterpieces; viewers would then wait twenty years for his followup, The Thin Red Line. Clearly Malick is a thoughtful, careful director who will not let a commercial imperative dictate his output!
The Byrd Theater is proud and especially well-positioned to showcase five of Malick’s most important pictures. An ever-inventive auteur and supremely, even lovingly visual as well as deeply philosophical filmmaker, Malick uses the screen as a broad canvas for his metaphysical musings on travel, romance, the trials of war, or the possibility of an afterlife. Always grounded in the material, natural world, Malick uses striking imagery to transport viewers to grand (but not grandiose) speculations about life and the world’s deepest mysteries. At turns lyrical, mystical, and elliptical, his cinema offers profound challenges and solace to viewers open to his ambition and scale. Experience these satisfactions in ways that the Byrd Theatre is uniquely able to offer—they’ll be screening Mondays throughout March, starting with Badlands on 3/5.
The full lineup:
3/5 (Two Screenings)
7:15 – Badlands (I’ll be hosting an Intro and Q&A for this film)
9:30 – Days of Heaven
3/12
7:15 – The Thin Red Line
3/19
7:15 – The New World
3/26
7:15 – The Tree of Life