Remember that mystery Terrence Malick project that we were trying to figure out last month? We had guessed that it could be additional footage for “Tree of Life” or perhaps more to add to “Voyage of Time.” All we knew, thanks to some Malick insiders is that it wasn’t a new feature film. But what we would have never guessed is that Terrence Malick would make a commercial for a smartphone.
Earlier today, Google held their annual product launch keynote, where they unveiled the brand new Pixel 3 and Pixel 3XL smartphones, among a gaggle of other projects (yes, I ordered a new smartphone today, like an idiot). One of the videos that the tech company showed off to prove that camera on the Pixel 3 smartphones is far superior than anything else on the market was a short film by Malick, filmed on a phone.
No, this isn’t some Steven Soderbergh-level narrative shot on a smartphone, but it is still beautiful and shows just how far phones have come in the last decade. As you watch kids play on a sunny day, with incredible clarity and style, you start to forget it’s a smartphone film. While there’s no narrative, it still feels like something akin to Malick’s other, more lengthy, projects.
And in hindsight, we should have guessed that the mystery project was Google-related. All we knew at the time is the name of the project was “Nexus.” Obviously, that word could have many uses and definitions, but in terms of Google and smartphones, “Nexus” is surely a throwback to the company’s last generation of phones. But how would we have possibly guessed that Google would hire Malick to promote a smartphone?
Regardless, the world has been graced by a little, micro-dose of Malick goodness. Whether you are sold on the Pixel 3 or not, at least you can watch some beautiful imagery for a couple of minutes.