Impact and Reception
Malick's impact on moviemaking is undeniable as many of the best modern directors, such as Christopher Nolan, David Fincher, Andrew Dominik, and others, have been influenced heavily by his films. Two of his films (Badlands, and Days of Heaven) were featured in Roger Ebert's Great Movies books, and both the New World and the Tree of Life would have likely featured in future installments. The Tree of Life was voted # 102 on Sight & Sound's 2012 poll of greatest films, being one of the only films of the last twenty years to place. Very few directors as acclaimed as Malick is have managed to generate the same level of criticism for their work. Critics of Malick's films call his films, among other things, unfocused, dull, pretentious, and self serving, and a number of actors who have worked with him have complained about his eccentric personality, odd shooting style, and tendency to cut out entire performances. On the other hand, Malick has been acclaimed for pushing the boundaries of cinema, showing how much can be done without sticking to the "rules" of cinema. Malick has also been praised for his fearless approach to filmmaking, not afraid to delay films for months in order to edit it properly or completely cut out actors from his films. Finally, he has been acclaimed for attempting to use images to tell a story, in a way making a "purer" form of cinema, free from narrative conventions and cliches. Roger Ebert was one of Malick's biggest fans and sums up his career very well by saying "In five movies in four decades, he has, in his own way, fashioned one of the most distinctive bodies of work of his time. Very much in his own way."