So right there in front of me, within the borders of Sight and Sound’s list of “The DVDs of 2008,” was an entry dedicated to Terrence Malick’s The New World – The Extended Cut. This caught me by surprise.I missed the film when it debuted in theaters three years ago, but I later caught it on DVD and was again struck by Malick’s eye for the natural world. The man is a master of the poetic moving image.
I admit that I’m curious to see this extended edition, though I suspect that the added footage will contribute more to the poetry of this film than the actual narrative. Which is fine – I believe Malick is more interested in poetry than in traditional narrative anyway, and so adding footage to emphasize tone would be consistent with this director’s poetic intent.
And that, I think, is how Malick’s films are best viewed: as the work of a director whose cinematic goals are poetic and philosophical rather than narrative in origin. Yet the end result of his aims and methods have tended to divide filmgoers.
I can still remember seeing The Thin Red Line on New Year’s Day in 1999. A sophomore in college, I was primed for ‘intellectual discussion’ and, having watched the film’s trailer repeatedly on my roommate’s computer, was eagerly anticipating the viewing experience.
I later saw the film while in San Francisco on my winter break. Afterwards, the people I was with avidly discussed Malick’s philosophical and poetic approach to his subject. It was an approach that I felt worked.
Not everyone agreed, of course, as I soon discovered.
When I returned to college a couple of weeks later, I mentioned the flick to my roommate who, it turned out, had also seen the film. And hated it. “What was with all of the voiceover?” he asked. “What the hell did it all mean?” He was not, it is safe to say, a fan of The Thin Red Line’s diffuse narrative style. I've met others who have echoed his sentiments.
Nonetheless, I believe that Malick’s determination to emphasize philosophy over a traditionally linear narrative approach is legitimate. I like it.
In the years since seeing The Thin Red Line, however, I’ve heard rumors of alternate cuts and editions. One rumor even stated that Malick had had a much longer version that sported narration by, of all people, Billy Bob Thornton.
Now that is an ‘extended edition’ of a film that I would be very curious to see.
The concepts of the “extended edition,” “special edition,” “restored edition,” and the “director’s cut” are now so common and overused, however, that I fear people will miss the truly interesting and worthy examples of such “editions” – examples like Touch of Evil, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, and even the multiple versions of Blade Runner.
But ‘unrated’ editions of Underworld and Scary Movie 4? Who needs ‘em?
The New World Trailer
The Thin Red Line Trailer
2 comments:
This may surprise you... because it really surprised me... but there are substantial episodes in the Extended Cut that *do* contribute mightily to the narrative. Christopher Plummer's character is developed more fully. There's a scene in which settlers protest the idea of a Christian Englishman thinking about marrying a "natural." Rebecca and her kinsman (the native played by Wes Studi) have an important conversation near the end that wasn't in the theatrical cut. Just for starters. Yes, there's more of Malick's poetic nature-gazing. But I was surprised at just how far he went, introducing new scenes and re-editing already impressive sequences. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.
And now I'm even more interested to see this cut of the film. When a director as lyrical as Malick shoots a film, I've always wondered just how much of the editing process might be a tug of war with the studio, or whether he has total control.
Whatever the case, the new material sounds like it makes a genuine contribution to the film. Good stuff - thanks!
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