It was in Austin that I had the idea for 'Days of Heaven.' I found myself alone for a summer in the town I had left as a high school student. There were those green, undulating hills, and this very beautiful river, the Colorado. The place is inspired and inspiring.
— Terrence Malick
I came to Los Angeles in the fall of 1969 to study at the AFI.
Perhaps when I have 10 films behind me, I will have something worth saying.
You can't live in Austin and escape the music.
I film quite a bit of footage, then edit. Changes before your eyes, things you can do and things you can't. My attitude is always 'let it keep rolling.'
When people express what is most important to them, it often comes out in cliches. That doesn't make them laughable; it's something tender about them. As though in struggling to reach what's most personal about them they could only come up with what's most public.
If you try to make things happen, they start to feel presented. They start to feel premeditated.
I'd always liked movies in a kind of naive way. They seemed no less improbable a career than anything else.
When things become too prepared, the life comes out of it.
Nostalgia is a powerful feeling; it can drown out anything.
There's a good many pictures I'd like to make; we'll see how many I'll be allowed to make.
Children's books are full of violence.
I was not a good teacher; I didn't have the sort of edge one should have on the students, so I decided to do something else.
I have trouble working off things that are too preconceived, like storyboards.
Martin Sheen was extraordinary. He's a very gifted man.
I prefer working behind the camera.
