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CANNES FESTIVAL – “A hidden life,” a Terrence Malick film in Cannes

This film is competing for the Palme D'Or

Terrence Malick has directed “A Hidden Life,” a very enjoyable contemplation on World War II, on freedom, on good and evil, and on God. His film asks, where was God during WWII? Radegund, a beautiful village in the Austrian Alps. Franz Jägerstätter, a conscientious objector, refuses to fight for the Nazis or pledge allegiance to them. Franz has a farm in these beautiful mountains that he tends ... more >

To the wonder

To the wonder

Why hide it?
Ben Affleck and Rachel McAdams
Directed by Terrence Malick

Less than three years after “Tree of Life” and his Palme D'Or win at Cannes, Terrence Malick is back with “To the Wonder,” a film-as-poem whose secret only he knows, apparently. At some point during the time lapsed Malick’s creativity and inspiration went out the window. In fact, with this vaguely sensory, visual fog of a film, Malick, convinced of his own genius and assured of making a new ... more >

TERRENCE MALICK CAPTURED-on camera

The myth, the legend ...

Jeepers. Terrence Malick was recently caught on camera, by accident, as he came out of an L.A. restaurant with Benicio del Toro. The photographer, on the lookout for gossip and other revelations, spotted Del Toro and rushed him eager to ask the usual tirade of fascinating questions, not realizing that behind him stood a strange sidekick, uncomfortably trying to walk out of the frame. It was ... more >

Tree of Life HOW-TO Guide on Youtube

For the less philosophically inclined

As Terrence Malick's "The Tree of Life," which opened in major cities at the end of last month, is getting ready for its nationwide rollout, a how-to featurette has been released by distributor Fox Searchlight Pictures in the hopes that it will help shepherd the meditative film across the dusty trails that await. Because in order for a movie to make money, as Mike Fleming of Deadline New York ... more >

The tree of life

Getting ultra-philosophical on the meaning of life
Brad Pitt, Sean Penn and Jessica Chastain
Directed by Terrence Malick

If Terrence Malick is a saint of cinema, then this is his holy lesson. Over a four-decade career, the mercurial American visionary has mastered absence and flowered a daunting mystery. After making one of the most impressive debuts in American film history, 1973’s "Badlands," he quit talking to the press. After the dreamy masterpiece "Days of Heaven" five years later, the perfectionist dipped a ... more >

Tree of life

Making sense of the unmakingsensable

For the last twelve months the film world rallied behind one unifying cause: seeing Terrence Malick's “The Tree of life” into a major film festival. Last year's failure to complete the film in time was deemed a disappointment by many and its absence, first from Cannes and then from Venice, was difficult to swallow.  And yet, even though I was myself disappointed, I couldn't help feeling a bit of ... more >

Terrence Malick’s ‘Tree of life’ mesmerizes Cannes

The 8:30am screening at the Cannes Festival is the most important one of the day, for a number of reasons. It's held in the Lumière Theatre, which sits over 2,200, it's early, and is bound to be attended by serious cinephiles and journalists (parties-bound festival-goers can't be expected to roll out of bed until about 11am and will try and catch Competition films later on in the day, if they make ... more >