On the nature of Terrence Malick

Two Terrence Malick films. Two recent discoveries. Badlands (1973) and Days of Heaven (1978); his Bonnie & Clyde interpretation and take on the love triangle theme. Previous to these films – watched in close proximity – introduction to Malick came through the contemplative eyes of Private Witt in The Thin Red Line (1998). The New World (2005) followed and already Malick’s expression of story and characters through nature was apparent.

Malick’s characters occupy their environment, but they do not control it, they merely pass through, if they are lucky. In many cases their environment irrevocably changes them and destroys those that seek to take command of it. The vastness of America’s Midwest ultimately leads to the demise of Badlands’ Kit; his punishment for his hubris, his belief the country would sustain him and Holly forever and never run out. In the same way, The New World’s Pocahontas cannot survive her displacement to the so-called civilised world.

The themes of The New World echo those of Malick’s most accomplished film to date, Days of Heaven. The beauty of the landscape and its containment of tragic lovers combine to create a timeless piece of art. The wheat fields both disguise and reveal (from varying viewpoints) the dangerous secret that Bill and Abby hide and again we see how Malick employs his landscapes as another character to complement and command the naturalistic acting he demands to create his other characters. If Malick worked within the boundaries of the urban would we discover that the brilliance of Michael Mann was under threat?

Far less prolific than his contemporaries, Malick’s canon of films reveals a true American auteur working today.

On the lack of suspense in political thriller, The Ghost

Directed by Roman Polanski, The Ghost is an entirely European affair, even down to the wonderfully shot, rain swept locale that stands in for the remoteness of America’s New England. The premise sees ex-British Prime Minister Adam Lang employ a second ghost writer for his memoirs after the death of his first. Whilst the ghost and Lang conduct interviews, the news breaks that he is being charged by The Hague for war crimes during his invasion of Iraq. The ghost finds himself in the middle of a story that could lead to a grittier more marketable book. But, will Lang’s inner circle allow the story to be told?

With obvious and intentional comparisons to the leadership of Tony Blair, The Ghost remains a universally appealing story and doesn’t allow itself to be mired by caricature. The Ghost checks off the expected features of suspenseful political thrillers – secluded location, omnipresent higher force, guarded and mysterious characters. Yet, Polanski is unable to generate the momentum to really start a fire under this story. As the source material is interesting and relevant, the acting competent and the cinematography pertinent, it seems that the fault lies with the director’s decision to keep the pace sluggish (maybe to mirror the ghost’s slow realisation of what he had become entangled with) and the energy and forward thrust reserved for one tense chase sequence.

The Ghost is not a bad film and there is pleasure to be taken from McGregor’s performance and the real-life connections we can apply having the advantage of retrospection. Yet, upon leaving the film behind the feeling that more could have been achieved from the material cannot be discarded.