brawls

Sometimes, Terrence Malick Goes the Way of Nature

Terrence Malick’s beautiful new film, The Tree of Life, meditates on God and love and stuff, but, sometimes, even the famously reclusive director fails to go “the way of grace,” as Tree of Life puts it. According to Martin Sheen in this month’s GQ, Malick’s sensitive spot is his wife. “[Filming Badlands, producer] Lou Stroller made some comment about Mrs. Malick, and Terry was not having it, and beat the hell out of him,” Sheen explains. “In true Texas style — he was so Texas. Didn’t even hesitate, just started swinging. They were down like two buffalo — they were big guys — and they were on the ground, rolling around, and Terry just whupped him. Oh, I acted outraged — ‘What a breakdown of discipline, this fighting on the set!’ — but I couldn’t have been prouder of him. Can you imagine? If more directors would beat up their producers, we’d have a lot more artistic freedom.” [GQ via Movieline]

Sometimes, Terrence Malick Goes the Way of Nature