Mark Rylance on Terrence Malick’s ‘The Way of the Wind’: “I Hope That Terry Eventually Completes the Film”

Terrence Malick’s “The Way of the Wind” completed shooting in the fall of 2019. Ever since then, four years later, Malick’s still been editing the film.

“The Way of the Wind” convey passages “in the life of Christ” through the representation of evangelical parables. Jesus Christ's descent into the world of the dead, also known as his “descent into hades,” is rumored to be one of the parables that will be included in the film.

One of that film’s stars, Mark Rylance, was interviewed for an Hungarian outlet. Here he is recounting his days on the set and how he remains cautiously hopeful that the film will eventually see the light of day:

I got along very well with actor [Röhrig] Géza; it was a great honor to act alongside the lead of "Son of Saul." I believe "Son of Saul" rightfully belongs among the top ten films of all time, and his performance is astounding. I hope that Terry eventually completes the film […] It's like a fine wine or whiskey; it only gets better with time. Terrence isn't rushing anything either. This is a very important story for him.

Here is Rylance giving us some details on how he approached his role as a Jesus-hounding Satan on the set of Malick’s film:

There I stood, as Satan, with 28 pages of monologue running through my mind, while Jesus barely uttered a word. Most of the time, I accompanied Jesus as Satan; it's not the situation for extensive discussions. During filming, there's no time for rehearsals, so it's not the moment for lengthy conversations. It's akin to a boxer focusing solely on stepping into the ring. Discussing Hungarian history doesn't help in such moments. Especially not in a Terrence Malick film, where everything is at stake.

Last month, I had mentioned how some concrete progress had been made on the film. So much so that a Cannes 2024 premiere was not out of the question. “The Way of the Wind” is, supposedly, close to completion.

However, one never knows what runs through Malick’s head, even with a cut that might be deemed “final.” He’s been known to go back to the editing room when everyone else thought the film was ready for release.

That’s how Malick usually works, taking his time in the editing room, refining and molding whatever footage he has into a tone poem that satisfies the inner artist in him. It’s salad-toss approach to editing, but, sometimes, it’s worth the wait (“The Tree of Life” “The Thin Red Line”). I truly hope he has something special here.