Terrence Malick and the Examined Life

Terrence Malick is one of American cinema’s most celebrated filmmakers. His films—from Badlands (1973) and Days of Heaven (1978) to The Thin Red Line (1998), The Tree of Life (2011), and, most recently, A Hidden Life (2019)—have been heralded for their artistry and lauded for their beauty, but what really sets them apart is their ideas. Terrence Malick and the Examined Life is the most comprehensive account to date of this unparalleled filmmaker’s intellectual and artistic development.Utilizing newly available archival sources to offer original interpretations of his canonical films, Martin Woessner illuminates Malick’s early education in philosophy at Harvard and Oxford as well as his cinematic apprenticeship at the American Film Institute to show how a young student searching for personal meaning became a famous director of Hollywood films. Woessner’s book presents a rich, interdisciplinary exploration of the many texts, thinkers, and traditions that made this transformation possible—from the novels of Hamlin Garland, James Jones, and Walker Percy to the philosophies of Stanley Cavell, Martin Heidegger, and Søren Kierkegaard to road movies, Hollywood Westerns, and the comedies of Jean Renoir. Situating Malick’s filmmaking within recent intellectual and cultural history, Woessner highlights its lasting contributions to both American cinema and the life of the mind.Terrence Malick and the Examined Life suggests it is time for philosophy to be viewed not merely as an academic subject, overseen by experts, but also as a way of life, open to each and every moviegoer.

"Terrence Malick finally has the interpreter he deserves in Martin Woessner, whose deep knowledge of modern philosophy and film history is evident on every page of this remarkable book. Woessner shows us how and why Malick turned to filmmaking to explore the moral and theological questions most mid-century academic philosophers had abandoned. In explaining how Malick ‘does philosophy’ through film, he demonstrates how to do intellectual history through the study of cinematic form. His book takes us to the wonder of Malick’s lifelong quest for meaning and communion with nature and the cosmos.", "Martin Woessner’s exploration of Terrence Malick and his work is profound, illuminating, and a delight to read. He puts this extraordinary philosopher-filmmaker in conversation with his contemporaries and understands him—not just in terms of film and philosophy—but within the wider intellectual and artistic context of his time. A fascinating book!", "Martin Woessner’s marvelous book on Terrence Malick sheds new light on the question of film and philosophy. Featuring fascinating accounts of Malick’s journey from philosopher to filmmaker, and contextualizing his films against the background of the emerging ‘New Hollywood’ generation, he shows convincingly how Malick’s work—from Badlands to A Hidden Life—can be understood as offering cinematic reflections on a philosophically examined life. A richly satisfying and compelling contribution to contemporary film-philosophy that is also a pleasure to read."

Martin Woessner is Associate Professor of History and Society at The City College of New York (CUNY), Center for Worker Education, and author of Heidegger in America.