Malick's "The New World"

franz_conrad wrote
Oh, and Marselus, some of the most abrupt edits from the theatrical edition are there, intact, in the extended edition. That's Malick's cutting style really. Everything is collapsed from many takes with many alterations on the essential dialogue of the scene.

Marselus wrote


Wow, I really thought there were missing parts (minutes, whole sequences) in those edits. Anyway I´ll check out the Extended Edition if it comes out. Thx for the info Michael!

I wonder why they never released an extended edition of The Thin Red Line though. I heard the film was like twice the lenght of the theatrical release.

Now, on a deadline for Christmas 1996, Malick with some assistance by Sean Penn, begin to edit TTRL even more. Zimmer's score becomes almost unidentifiable (Zimmer composed 12 hours worth of original score and recorded six hours according to Jeff Rona, an associate of Zimmer who is also credited on TTRL as supplying the film with "visceral ambience"). Zimmer states that when people say TTRL is his best score ever, he remarks that they haven't even truly heard his score.

Leslie Jones and co. were hired by 20th Century Fox and Terrence Malick to create an edited cut based on the original adapted script of TTRL, they cut from six hours to five. Their assembled cut,much of it with unedited combat footage, was a a cut that they were "happy" with because they had done their job. They felt this cut, even at this stage, was still "powerful."

"Because of Malick's unique working style, the editors were faced with an unusual set of challenges. Much of the film was unscripted. At times three units were shooting at different locations around Australia and, though he was concerned about what was being captured, the director did not screen the dailies. Leslie started the picture without Billy, who came on after principle photography wrapped. She met Malick only once prior to the shoot, briefly in L.A., and though she was on location for five months, Leslie rarely saw him during production. "Terry and I rarely talked about the film," she commented. "He left me to my own devices. Eventually I came back with a five-hour first cut."

"Even that five-hour version was very powerful, and you could see it was a very moving story back then," Billy added."

However, it was decidedly linear, contained lots of scripted dialogue. This cut contained Rourke, Viggo, Bill Pullman, etc. still in that existing footage. This five hour version was a version that played close to the traditional arc of Malick's original script. This also would have been the version that was faithful to the original novel. When you find the version of the screenplay floating aroudn the internet, it is more or less this cut of the film. Just throw in extended combat sequences, take away the Witt gone AWOL scene at the beginning and there you have it . . .

Meanwhile, Hans Zimmer had submitted his score for a six-hr cut; he cut some, added more cues to abide to that five-hour cut knowing full well that it would be eventually edited further per Malick's guidelines. The film remained constantly in flux thus frustrating Zimmer who still forged ahead shaping his musical vision with contributions from John Powell, Francesco Lupica and Jeff Rona (among others). This, the frequent changes in the film's construct, is what Zimmer talks about in all of his interviews about composing for TTRL. To his credit, Zimmer could hang with Malick's way of doing things, Horner could not.

Then the film becomes four hours; this is the work of Malick with the input of Leslie Jones and Billy Weber:

"The editing team spent 13 months in post, and the mix lasted four months. There were no previews, but there were several in-house screenings; the largest of which, attended by 15 people, was for marketing executives. Malick had final cut. Although the editors said he had specific ideas he wanted to try, the director was also willing to explore and experiment with the material. His creative process demanded time and patience, and though occasionally frustrating, was often rewarding as well.

"In working with the footage, the editors found the blend of seasoned and less-experienced actors to be a particular challenge. The many cameos were another difficult element, as were the film's voice-overs, which were not initially in the script. Making room for them was tricky, and most were recorded directly into the Avid. Some of that scratch track remained in the final film, according to Billy. "Terry is not really fond of dialogue, and shoots takes with and without it," he said. Leslie added, "Terry lost dialogue wherever possible. The final film varied greatly from the original concept."

"The team used four Avids (at one point a fifth was added). They were linked via a fibre-channel network, allowing multiple editors to work on the same sequences simultaneously. In addition to the three editors, the crew included an Avid assistant, a first assistant who was also credited as associate editor, and two film assistants. Occasionally, additional help was brought in to conform. "All things considered," commented Leslie, "it was not that big of a crew.""

According to both editors, Malick enjoyed the technological advances overall, like the camera cranes used for the shoot, but was less enamored with the Avid. The editors, however, thought the Avid enabled them to cope with the wealth of incredible footage from cinematographer John Toll. "If we had cut on film," said Billy, "we would still be editing today."

At the four-hour stage, we have Billy Bob Thornton's voiceover, lots of philosophical/spiritual invocations. Many of the leading actors start to disappear. The Malickian vision is being honed. More second-unit footage from the Solomon islands is being used. Over the ensuing months, Malick edits the film to Zimmer's score instead of the other way around which is traditionally done. If there is a version to petition for, this would be it, not the five hr. cut.

Malick then starts to discard key plot trajectories (like Adrien Brody), basic subplots rise in its place (Witt for example), much of the dialogue is dispensed and he starts to insert even more second unit footage and a huge change in the voice-overs. This time he gets rid of Billy Bob's work and, wanting to abide by the notion of "maybe man has one big soul that everybody's a part of," a nod to John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath. He records several actors, most sounding alike, to do the unscripted voice-overs.

Now, on a deadline for Christmas 1996, Malick with some assistance by Sean Penn, begin to edit TTRL even more. Zimmer's score becomes almost unidentifiable (Zimmer composed 12 hours worth of original score and recorded six hours according to Jeff Rona, an associate of Zimmer who is also credited on TTRL as supplying the film with "visceral ambience"). Zimmer states that when people say TTRL is his best score ever, he remarks that they haven't even truly heard his score. It becomes layered with Kodo drums, the drone of Francesco's cosmic beam and Rona's "visceral ambience," cues fade out and blend with Faure's "In Paradisum" and Charles Ives' "The Unanswered Question" as well as other really obscure works (like the noise texture sound wall of 'The Prophecy from the Village Kremnus" and "Annum per Annum" and the infamous Melanesian chants).

TTRL is eventually reduced to the cut we have with us today. It is Malick's cut, and probably in Malick's view, a harried, hurried cut because he would have taken even longer.

It will probably be the only cut . . . When people want the 5 hr. cut, they would be getting a decidedly un-Malickian film, one with plenty albeit of battle footage etc. Becuse it isn't intended to be a "war" film, it will never be shown. It is less of the final vision that Malick saw fit to fully realize. Adding to it now would take away from that final mix of score, footage and voiceover that he so painstakingly created. My feeling is that if Malick was ever to revisit TTRL, he would be taken away more dialogue and adding more second unit footage. Or it would be closer to the four-hr. footage . . . I wonder where all that discarded film is right now?

paulmaherjr wrote
I am the one that wrote that long piece on The Thin Red Line. One more thing to add, Malick had taken the extra footage he didn't use and used it to create another 2.5 hr. version of The Thin Red Line with different characters and plotline (according to my interviews I am conducting for a long book about Malick and his films).

This can be confirmed by an interview with Nick Nolte: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FOvt8iP … mp;index=7