In an interview with Indiewire on the heels of the Cannes showing of Ain’t Them Bodies Saints, Rooney Mara was asked about similarities between director David Lowery and Terrence Malick, with whom the actress worked on an as-yet untitled Malick film currently in post-production. Critics have been making comparisons between Malick’s established aesthetic and Lowrey’s film since its premier at Sundance earlier this year. Mara quickly put that question to rest. “There’s nothing similar about working with the two of them. Like nothing.” said Mara. “I think they’re both very poetic and they’re both very romantic,” she went on to say, “but in terms of actually working with them, there’s very little that’s the same.” Nonetheless, the comparison has to be flattering to Lowrey, who, though an industry veteran, is a fairly green director –  Ain’t Them Bodies Saints is his first feature film in the director’s chair.

Rooney Mara and Casey Affleck in ‘Ain’t Them Bodies Saints’

Malick, meanwhile, has been on something of a tear lately. After two decades between Days of Heaven and The Thin Red Line and seven years more until The New World, Malick has had premiers in back-to-back years with 2011’s highly praised The Tree of Life and 2012’s highly poetic To the Wonder, plus three films currently in post-production.  

Ain’t Them Bodies Saints stars Mara, Casey Affleck, and Ben Foster(3:10 to Yuma, X-Men: The Last Stand) in a story which follows an escaped convict’s attempt to reunite with his wife and their daughter, whom he’s never met. It is set for an August 16th wide release, but keep an eye out for mxdwn Movies’ firsthand coverage of the film when it rolls into the LA Film Festival next month.