Malick is also unique in that while I love his work, I understand anyone who can't get into them and finds them dull or pretentious. It's as if some people are tuned to his frequency and others just receive white noise. When you're tuned to it, it's a timeless meditative, spiritual experience. Our wedding bands carry the words of the Tree of Life's 'Mrs. O'Brien': 'Unless you love, your life will flash by'. I hope he can finish 'The Way of the Wind' in times for Cannes this year.

Not many directors able to produce fully avant-garde work with those budgets and that mainstream distribution. Closest I can think of is Harmony Korine around his commercial peak but that lasted a few years not decades.