马力克Terrence Malick’s favourite movies of all time

A collection of Terrence Malick’s favourite movies of all time

Calum Russell@RussellisationThu 30 November 2023 12:45, UK

The cinema of American filmmaker Terrence Malick is truly unlike any other, having a remarkable passion for capturing the sheer curiosity of humanity. Indeed, a Malick film can easily be identified from a Martin Scorsese or Francis Ford Coppola picture in the history of American cinema, with the director possessing a unique way that his camera communicates to the viewer, translating the human experience almost perfectly for the silver screen.

Rising to fame in the 1970s, Malick announced himself with back-to-back masterpieces that were, in many ways, companion pieces to one another, 1973’s Badlands and 1978’s Days of Heaven. While the first starred Martin Sheen and Sissy Spacek as criminals on the run from the restrictions of their childhoods, the latter saw Richard Gere and Brooke Adams as reluctant convicts, finding a way to plough in the alluring American wilderness.

Both films, in various degrees of focus, also focus on religion, a pertinent theme across all of Malick’s work. While he completed his 20th-century efforts with the magnificent Thin Red Line in 1998, his modern efforts have almost exclusively dealt with religion and spiritualism, with his 2011 Palme d’Or winner The Tree of Life and war drama A Hidden Life both meddling with this theme that he has a remarkable understanding of and control over.

Yet, while it looked like Malick exploded onto the scene in the 1970s armed with all the tools he needed to become a master filmmaker, what fans and critics didn’t see was his education in cinema long before this decade, which can be visualised looking over his list of all-time favourite movies collated on MUBI.

One of the most prominent features on the list is the abundance of French New Wave movies, choosing a trio of films from Jean-Luc Godard, including 1960’s Breathless, 1962’s Vivre Sa Vie and 1965’s Pierrot Le Fou. Elsewhere, he also picks two movies from François Truffaut, 1962’s Jules And Jim and 1970s’ Wild Child, illustrating how their inventive form of filmmaking inspired his own unique style.

Another stand-out feature is his two 21st-century picks, opting not for a classic from Paul Thomas Anderson or Quentin Tarantino, but instead, Joe Carnahan’s Smokin’ Aces and Ben Stiller’s beloved comedy Zoolander. Neither Stiller’s nor Carnahan’s film can be seen reflected anywhere in Malick’s filmography, but it’s still beautiful to see that he has an appreciation for cinema in all its shapes and sizes.

Take a look at Malick’s full list of favourites below.

Terrence Malick’s all-time favourite movies:

• Beat The Devil (John Huston, 1953)
• Ben-Hur (William Wyler, 1959)
• Big Deal On Madonna Street (Mario Monicelli, 1958)
• Breathless (Jean-Luc Godard 1960)
• City Girl (F.W. Murnau, 1930)
• Deep Blue Sea (Renny Harlin, 1999)
• From Here To Eternity (Fred Zinnemann, 1953)
• I Vitelloni (Federico Fellini, 1953)
• Journey To Italy (Roberto Rossellini, 1954)
• Jules And Jim (François Truffaut, 1962)
• The Lady Eve (Preston Sturges, 1941)
• Ménilmontant (Dimitri Kirsanoff, 1926)
• Mickey One (Arthur Penn, 1965)
• Nanook Of The North (Robert J. Flaherty, 1922)
• Pierrot Le Fou (Jean-Luc Godard, 1965)
• Sansho The Bailiff (Kenji Mizoguchi, 1954)
• Smokin’ Aces (Joe Carnahan, 2006)
• Vivre Sa Vie (Jean-Luc Godard, 1962)
• The White Sheik (Federico Fellini, 1952)
• The Wild Child (François Truffaut, 1970)
• Zoolander (Ben Stiller 2001)