Terrence Malick has released only four completed films in his four decade career, yet all are superb. Two are utter masterpieces: 1998's The Thin Red Line, which was unfortunately overshadowed by Steven Spielberg's horrid Saving Private Ryan.
That film was every bit as grim as Spielberg's film, including bloody reality, but it had a transcendent core that the cliche-ridden Spielberg film lacked.
On the other hand, some would argue that a film Malick made twenty years earlier, Days Of Heaven, was even greater. I would not, but the arguments can rage over which of the two is better. What is inarguable is that both are great. Indeed, both are masterpieces of American and world cinema.
My review of the earlier film is finally up at Cinescene, and I take my usual shots at some of the poor criticism that swamped this film, even by those critics who 'liked' the film. Of course, like has nada to do with excellence, and is especially galling when a film like this is so manifestly great.
Simply put, most critics just whiff when they try to take on a film, or any work of art that is so great, and in my reviews (which are technically essays, not merely reviews- but hail the power of the key word in search engines) I not only critique the artwork, but the critics who consistently muff their jobs, for only in doing so can they, and the art loving populace, truly get the most out of art that is great and not so great.
Herein a clip from the titular film:
