ABSTRACT
The concluding chapter does not simply summarize the earlier commentary; it offers specific examples from across the entire range of Malick films in which all three elements of the ‘multiplane soundtrack’ (voice, noise, music) are brought together in dramatically purposeful ways. Special attention is given to the aforementioned ‘house burning’ scene in Badlands, the lengthy ‘locust scene’ in Days of Heaven, and the ‘final battle’ scene in The Thin Red Line; attention is also be paid to the various ‘love scenes’ in The New World and the mother’s ‘grief’ scene in The Tree of Life.
The epilogue—which includes commentary on Malick’s 2017 Song to Song—argues that although Malick’s ‘sonic style’ has indeed evolved over the course of more than four decades, in many ways, for the sake of communicating a Heidegger-based worldview, it has demonstrated a remarkable consistency.
