BRANCHING OUT

When Terry first pitched me the idea I was like, ‘Wow. That sounds... different. Good luck with that!’” Speaking to TF in October 2019, producer Bill Pohlad remembers taking a leap of faith with Malick after he came back with a script. “His screenplays are never traditional. They’re always very literary, but you could publish this one as a book,” remembers Pohlad. “Nothing in it really leant itself to shooting, but it was beautiful. I knew I had to do it, but it really was just a trust thing.”

Before The Tree Of Life came out in 2011, Malick had spent the previous 40 years making just four other films. Eight years later, he’s already released another five features, losing his reputation for being a ditherer along with some of his other infamous bad habits.

“Like everyone else in the business I’d heard the stories,” Pohlad laughs. “How eccentric he was, how much time he takes, how no one’s allowed to look at him… but the whole shoot was honestly a dream. It was such a happy vibe. I just remember Terry sitting down in the armchair of the living room on set and talking to the cast and crew in a very relaxed, open manner. It was spontaneous too – he was following the natural light, painting with the camera as he went. It always seemed like he was just coming up with stuff on the fly but you also knew he’d been thinking about every shot for his whole life. It was amazing to watch him work”.

Assembling a long cut of scripted shots, natural history footage and experimental visual effects (handcrafted by 2001: A Space Odyssey pioneer Douglas Trumbull), the real challenge for Malick and Pohlad began when they tried to get someone to buy it. “Obviously it was ground-breaking, and everyone we showed it to was sort of speechless,” says Pohlad. “But that scared people too. Looking back now, it all worked out, but at the time it was very dramatic.”

Eventually getting in front of an audience at the 2011 Cannes film festival, the final film dropped enough jaws to pick up the Palme d’Or – even if Malick wasn’t there to collect the award himself.

“It’s not for effect,” says Pohlad, who accepted the statue on his behalf. “He’s a genuinely shy and humble guy. It was quite an experience though. What can you say? ‘Thanks, but I’m not Terrence Malick. No one else really is…”

THE TREE OF LIFE IS AVAILABLE ON DVD AND BLU-RAY.

Producer Bill Pohlad on making a masterpiece with the elusive ‘Terry’…