What else can we say about Jessica Chastain at this point that isn’t bordering on over-saturation? The girl is killing it this year, from Jeff Nichols’ “Take Shelter” at Sundance to Terrence Malick’s “The Tree of Life” at Cannes to “The Help” and “The Debt” to close out the summer, with “Coriolanus” still to come.
Malick’s film is set for a DVD/Blu-ray bow one week from today, and it should be a hot seller among cinephiles, at the very least. I have a screener around here somewhere and I’ve been meaning to put it in and get a load of how it plays on the small screen. I imagine it won’t have the same impact, as Malick is the sort who always lends a bit of scope and majesty to his work that just feels at home on the big screen.
The elusive auteur has always been a point of fascination by those eager for any morsel of info on his process. When footage dropped a few weeks back of him directing Christian Bale in a new film at the crowded Austin City Limits festival, it was like Sasquatch in the wild or something. Well the same people who clamored for a look at that will be interested in a new, albeit brief video Fox Searchlight has made available in advance of next week’s home video release.
The video features Chastain recalling her first meeting with Malick and the audition process that led to her getting the role that would largely be her first introduction to audiences. There’s also a bit of footage from that audition. (“The Tree of Life” producer, Sarah Green, by the way, was instrumental in getting Chastain in front of director Jeff Nichols, which led to her work on his film, “Take Shelter,” which is in release and will be expanding throughout the next few weeks.)
No glimpses of the Loch Ness Monster himself, I’m afraid.