Plummer: 'I'll Never Work With Him Again'

In this clip from Newsweek's 2012 Oscar Roundtable, Christopher Plummer tells of his experience working with Terrence Malick on 'The New World.' "I love some of his movies very much," he says, "but the problem with Terry is he needs a writer, desperately."

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Entertainment

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• newsweek
• oscars
• oscar roundtable
• christopher plummer

[robotdevicehuman]

I knew Clooney was shallow but am disappointed to find Plummer is too. Malick IS a writer. An amazing writer. He made a living at it between directing. He knows how to write conventional but is going beyond theater into cinematic poetry. Those aren't just pretty shots, they contain information, theme. Malick is a true artist. The pretentious one here is Plummer, who is not a true artist because he is not happy to be part of a larger whole and is mad because his lines were cut.

[robotdevicehuman]

The New Land? Aren't you David Ansen, film critic of Newsweek? How about "The New World."

[mostpowerfulbenjamin]

terrence malick > actors

[robotdevicehuman]

@dixxjamm I understand not everyone being receptive of Malick's current style, but his first film Badlands is conventional storytelling as are the films he wrote for others, like Pocket Money. So for anyone to say Malick can't write or doesn't understand story or dialog is for them to be just wrong. Starting with his second film Days of Heaven he chose to go in a different direction. It's not that he needs a writer as Plummer asserts but that he's working the medium differently.

[dixxjamm]

@robotdevicehuman I disagree. Everything Plummer said reflects what I feel watching Terence Malick's movies. Wonderful cinematography,great attention to detail but also terrible storytelling.Life and art are not only slo-mo, and elaborate flashes,life is also dialogue and straight-up story-telling.Leone is also a poetic director,crazy about shots and stuff,but I'll be damned if I ever felt bored watching his movies.With Malick...every time.It's a question of taste,I guess,but I had to say it.

[justafterdark]

I'm disappointed in this years roundtable...I mean that table clearly isn't round

[Mistake0928]

When michael and Charlize found that Mallick cut Brody in his film - nice reactions. I didn't know about this accident with Brody, i think it's the most horrible things

[ebuzzmiller34]

I can see him and Clooney's POV here, I mean it is a different way of making movies. Not saying good or bad, but it'd take adjusting too. I think particularly Clooney has a point with how he edited Thin Red Line (which I love) and some actors didn't even turn up in it must have been a head scratcher.

[SemajPetrille]

This video is an important reminder of how important celebrities are, and how lost we would all be without them.

[JimParsonsFTW]

@robotdevicehuman Look, dude. I'm as big a fan of Malick as you are, but there's absolutely no need to disrespect such a great actor just for expressing his opinion.

[word2yourmogwai]

@robotdevicehuman When it takes you three years to edit your movie because of a lack of narrative structure ... it's time to get a fucking writer. A REAL writer.

[robotdevicehuman]

Gee, George, you're making fun of the director of The Tree of Life, a movie your friend Brad produced. Nice going.