Editing Terrence Malick (section)

=== 1969–1978: Film debut and acclaim ===
[[File:Terrence Malick, Days of Heaven.png|thumb|left|190px|Malick filming ''[[Days of Heaven]]'' (1978)]]
Malick started his film career after earning an [[Master of Fine Arts|MFA]] from the brand-new [[AFI Conservatory]] in 1969, directing the short film ''[[Lanton Mills]]''. At the AFI, he established contacts with people such as actor [[Jack Nicholson]], longtime collaborator [[Jack Fisk]], and agent [[Mike Medavoy]], who procured for Malick freelance work [[script doctor|revising scripts]]. He wrote early uncredited drafts of ''[[Dirty Harry]]'' (1971) and ''[[Drive, He Said]]'' (1971), and is credited with the screenplay for ''[[Pocket Money]]'' (1972).<ref>{{cite web|author=Scott B.|url=https://www.ign.com/articles/2002/02/19/featured-filmmaker-terrence-malick|title=Featured Filmmaker: Terrence Malick|publisher=IGN|date=February 19, 2002|access-date=November 15, 2021}}</ref> Malick also co-wrote ''[[The Gravy Train]]'' (1974) under the pseudonym David Whitney.

Malick's first feature-length work as a director was ''[[Badlands (film)|Badlands]]'', an [[independent film]] starring [[Martin Sheen]] and [[Sissy Spacek]] as a young couple on a crime spree in the 1950s Midwest. It was influenced by the crimes of convicted teenage spree killer [[Charles Starkweather]].<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.newyorker.com/culture/richard-brody/dvd-of-the-week-badlands|title=DVD of the Week: Badlands|first=Richard|last=Brody|magazine=[[The New Yorker]]|authorlink=Richard Brody|date=August 30, 2011|via=www.newyorker.com}}</ref> Malick raised half the budget by approaching people outside of the industry, including doctors and dentists, and by contributing $25,000 from his personal savings. The rest was raised by executive producer [[Edward R. Pressman]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Gilbey|first=Ryan|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2008/aug/22/drama|title=The start of something beautiful|work=The Guardian|date=22 August 2008}}</ref><ref>{{citation|last=Walker|first=Beverly|url=https://www.eskimo.com/~toates/malick/art6.html|title=Malick on Badlands|work=[[Sight and Sound]]|series=44|issue=2|pages=82–83|date=Spring 1975|via=Eskimo North}}</ref> After a troubled production that included many crew members leaving halfway through, ''Badlands'' drew raves upon its premiere at the [[New York Film Festival]]. As a result, [[Warner Bros.]] bought distribution rights for three times its budget.<ref name="Stafford">{{cite news|author-link=Jeff Stafford|first=Jeff|last=Stafford|title=Badlands|url=https://www.tcm.com/this-month/article/87364|work=Turner Classic Movies|year=2008|access-date=October 19, 2010}}</ref>

[[File:Malick, Days of Heaven.jpg|thumb|Malick during production of the 1978 film ''[[Days of Heaven]]'']]
Malick's second film was the [[Paramount Pictures|Paramount]]-produced ''[[Days of Heaven]]'', about a love triangle that develops in the farm country of the [[Texas Panhandle]] in the early 20th century. Production began in the fall of 1976 in [[Alberta|Alberta, Canada]]. The film was mostly shot during the [[Golden hour (photography)|golden hour]], with primarily natural light. Much like Malick's first feature, ''Days of Heaven'' had a lengthy and troubled production, with several members of the production crew quitting before shooting was finished, mainly due to disagreements with Malick's idiosyncratic directorial style.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://surprisinglycompetentmedia.co.uk/2015/02/26/only-in-the-70s-days-of-heaven-1978/|title=Only in the 70s: Days of Heaven (1978)|date=February 26, 2015|access-date=March 25, 2017}}</ref> The film likewise had a troubled post-production phase. [[Billy Weber]] and Malick spent two years editing it, during which they experimented with unconventional editing and voice-over techniques once they realized the picture they had set out to make would not fully work.<ref>Biskind, Peter. ''Easy Riders, Raging Bulls'', Bloomsbury, 1998. pp.296–297.</ref>

''Days of Heaven'' was finally released in 1978 to mostly positive responses from critics.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.moma.org/explore/inside_out/2014/08/05/terrence-malicks-days-of-heaven/|title=Terrence Malick's ''Days of Heaven''|publisher=Museum of Modern Art|access-date=December 16, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nEa_33WQkDkC&pg=PT115|title=Terrence Malick: Film and Philosophy|editor-last1=Tucker|editor-first1=Thomas Deane|editor-last2=Kendall|editor-first2=Stuart|publisher=Bloomsbury|year=2011|isbn=9781441148957 }}</ref> Its cinematography was widely praised, although some found its story lackluster.<ref>{{cite news|last=Eng|first=Monica|title=''Days of Heaven''|work=[[Chicago Tribune]]|date=October 9, 1978|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1999/01/17/days-of-heaven-2/|access-date=December 16, 2016 }} "Some critics have complained that the ''Days of Heaven'' story is too slight."</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-days-of-heaven-1978|title=Days of Heaven Movie Review & Film Summary (1978)|last=Ebert|first=Roger|date=December 7, 1997}}</ref> In ''The New York Times'', Harold C. Schonberg wrote that it "is full of elegant and striking photography; and it is an intolerably artsy, artificial film."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=EE05E7DF173EE767BC4C52DFBF668383669EDE|title=Movie Review – Days of Heaven|last=Schonberg|first=Harold C.|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=September 14, 1978}}</ref> It won the [[Academy Award for Best Cinematography]] and the prize for Best Director at the [[1979 Cannes Film Festival]]. Its reputation has since improved,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://moviemezzanine.com/the-terrence-malick-retrospective-days-of-heaven/|title=The Terrence Malick Retrospective: Days of Heaven|last=Runyon|first=Christopher|publisher=Movie Mezzanine|date=March 28, 2013|access-date=December 16, 2016}} "you simply can't take up a list of 'rediscovered classics' without mentioning Terrence Malick's follow-up to ''Badlands''"</ref> having been voted one of the 50 greatest American films ever made in a 2015 critics' poll published by the [[BBC]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20150720-the-100-greatest-american-films|title=The 100 greatest American films|publisher=BBC|date=July 20, 2015|access-date=October 19, 2016}}</ref>

Following the release of ''Days of Heaven'', Malick began developing a project for Paramount, titled ''Q'', that explored the origins of life on earth. During pre-production, he suddenly moved to Paris and disappeared from public view for years.<ref name="Biskind">{{cite magazine|last=Biskind|first=Peter|title=The Runaway Genius|magazine=Vanity Fair|date=August 1999|url=https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/classic/features/runaway-genius-199812|access-date=October 20, 2010 }}</ref> During this time, he wrote a number of screenplays, including ''The English Speaker'', about [[Josef Breuer]]'s analysis of [[Anna O.]]; adaptations of [[Walker Percy]]'s novel ''[[The Moviegoer]]'' and [[Larry McMurtry]]'s ''The Desert Rose'';<ref name="Biskind"/> a script about [[Jerry Lee Lewis]]; and a stage adaptation of the Japanese film ''[[Sansho the Bailiff]]'' that was to be directed by Polish filmmaker [[Andrzej Wajda]], in addition to continuing work on the ''Q'' script.<ref>{{cite news|last=Gillis|first=Joe|title=Waiting for Godot|work=[[Los Angeles (magazine)|Los Angeles]]|date=December 1995}}</ref> Although ''Q'' has never been made, Malick's work on the project provided material for his film ''[[The Tree of Life (film)|The Tree of Life]]''<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.timeout.com/us/film/the-tree-of-life|title=The Tree of Life|work=[[Time Out New York]]|date=May 24, 2011|access-date=May 27, 2011}}</ref> and eventually became the basis for ''[[Voyage of Time (film)|Voyage of Time]]''. Jack Fisk, a longtime production designer on Malick's films, has said Malick was shooting film during this time as well.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://nymag.com/movies/features/terrence-malick-2011-5/|last=Ebiri|first=Blige|title=Thirty-Three Years of Principal Filming|magazine=New York magazine|date=May 23, 2011|pages=84–85}}</ref>