Rosy-Fingered Dawn: a Film on Terrence Malick (2002)

Plot: Rosy-Fingered Dawn is a film on Terrence Malick. It is about the making of BADLANDS, DAYS OF HEAVEN, THE THIN RED LINE (considered three main moments in the American cinema), and the personal involvement of some of the most representative figures of the American culture itself. The testimonies of Sam Shepard, Arthur Penn, Martin Sheen, Sissy Spacek, Sean Penn, Jim Caviezel, Elias Koteas, Ben Chaplin, John Savage, Penny Allen, Haskell Wexler, taking the cue from some of the most salient themes that inspired Malick's production, converge in a passionate portrait of contemporary America, amplified by the voices of the characters who have been called up and often recited by the actors themselves. This medley of voices has given origin to a journey throughout the whole United States, from California to Colorado, from Virginia to Minnesota, passing by New York and Los Angeles. Every stop represents an ideal set in which all the characters of the films come to life once again giving place to a growing flow of memories. The narrative dimension of Malick's cinema resounds and opens a new horizon on the visible contradictions of the American culture; no easy judgment but a critical consciousness is what emerges from this coral speech, together with a definite need: the necessity of art. A need that Terrence Malick was able to satisfy.—Citrullo International

Original Title: Rosy-Fingered Dawn: a Film on Terrence Malick

Director: Carlo Hintermann , Luciano Barcaroli , Daniele Villa , Gerardo Panichi

Writer: Carlo Hintermann , Luciano Barcaroli , Daniele Villa , Gerardo Panichi

Producer: Samantha Gaetani , Gerardo Panichi , Patrizia Tallarico , Alessandro Tonnini , Alessandro Verdecchi

Type: movie

Year: 2002

Genres: Documentary

Cast: Ann Lopkoff , Bob Codyk , Jim Caviezel , Ben Chaplin , Elias Koteas , Sean Penn , Martin Sheen , Sam Shepard , Sissy Spacek , John Turturro , Penelope Allen , Sergei Bodrov , Jack Fisk , Ken Hilton , Stevan Larner , Terrence Malick , Ennio Morricone , Arthur Penn , Edward R. Pressman , John Savage , George Aliceson Tipton , Billy Weber , Haskell Wexler

Runtimes: 90

Countries: Italy

Languages: English

Color Info: Black and White

Rating: 5.9

Votes: 154

Year: 2002

Akas: Розовоперстая заря: Фильм о Терренсе Малике (Russia)

Production Companies: Campinella Productions , Citrullo International , Misami Film

Distributors: FilmAnnex

Synopsis: Rosy-Fingered Dawn is a film on Terrence Malick. It is about the making of BADLANDS, DAYS OF HEAVEN, THE THIN RED LINE (considered three main moments in the American cinema), and the personal involvement of some of the most representative figures of the American culture itself. The testimonies of Sam Shepard, Arthur Penn, Martin Sheen, Sissy Spacek, Sean Penn, Jim Caviezel, Elias Koteas, Ben Chaplin, John Savage, Penny Allen, Haskell Wexler, taking the cue from some of the most salient themes that inspired Malick's production, converge in a passionate portrait of contemporary America, amplified by the voices of the characters who have been called up and often recited by the actors themselves. This medley of voices has given origin to a journey throughout the whole United States, from California to Colorado, from Virginia to Minnesota, passing by New York and Los Angeles. Every stop represents an ideal set in which all the characters of the films come to life once again giving place to a growing flow of memories. The narrative dimension of Malick's cinema resounds and opens a new horizon on the visible contradictions of the American culture; no easy judgment but a critical consciousness is what emerges from this coral speech, together with a definite need: the necessity of art. A need that Terrence Malick was able to satisfy.Our interest in Malick's cinema finds its starting point in 1999 when THE THIN RED LINE was released representing the comeback of the director to filmmaking after more than twenty years. Malick's films seemed to us an ideal subject in order to give a certain continuity to our past work which followed a specific path in order to approach filmmaking through a direct contact with the authors - it is the case of our monographs on Otar Ioseliani and Takeshi Kitano. We have therefore thought of a documentary as a privileged way to explore the artistic world gravitating around Malick, in order to underline the importance of his work as a milestone for several generations of filmmakers in the American cinematography. Malick is in fact an author capable of conjugating his own expressive will with the wide Hollywood production resources. It was so that, digging deep in his cinema, we found out the extremely intricate system of connections among actors, directors of photography, musicians and filmmakers, both parallel and intertwined to the Studios productive system. A will to live filmmaking as a continuous challenge. In January 2002, after three months of development of the project, we finally left for the United States where for five weeks we prepared and shot Rosy Fingered Dawn: a film on Terrence Malick. This has been the beginning of our personal journey in Malick's cinema and, somehow, in the heart of American filmmaking.Our intention to celebrate Malick's films has obtained - also thanks to the director's adhesion to the project - a strong answer from the people involved, both in terms of a sincere involvement in the project and in making explicit different and personal views on filmmaking and, finally, on America itself. Hence, a sort of virtuous circle was created around the documentary which gave us the chance to meet, among st others, Martin Sheen, Sissy Spacek, Sam Shepard and Sean Penn, but also filmmakers as Arthur Penn and Sergej Bodrov who were willing to share their views on Malick's cinema. All this has represented a strong contribution to our personal research, making us understand how it is yet possible to live the cinematic experience in a personal way that binds directly life to a will to communicate. Quoting Arthur Penn: "We made movies because we wanted to make a movie".

Cinematographer: Carlo Hintermann

Producer: Samantha Gaetani , Gerardo Panichi , Patrizia Tallarico , Alessandro Tonnini , Alessandro Verdecchi

Production Manager: Alec Schulmann

Box Office: $2,000,000 (estimated)

Composer: Edoardo Cianfanelli , Mario Salvucci

Editor: Gianni Russo

Sound Crew: Paolo Segat

Thanks: Alec Schulmann