Terrence Malick works in mysterious ways. Make that mystifying ways.

There he was only two years ago at Jo's coffeehouse on South Congress Avenue, perched in the shade with a yellow legal pad and cell phone, wearing a tropical-print shirt and a Panama hat. Only thing missing was a mai tai to complete the picture.

Malick appeared to be doing light business, and in fact he was. Actor Benicio Del Toro was in town to meet with Malick about "Che," the Che Guevara biographical feature they were developing that Malick would co-write and direct and Del Toro would star in.

This was a fantastically rare public Malick sighting. It felt like stumbling upon the Loch Ness monster not only out of its element, but actually existing. We've spotted the elusive creature Terrence Malick! Get a stun gun and a net!

The inordinately private director — he has allergies to the press and public appearances — resides part time (or is it full time?) in Austin, home to scads of far less bashful filmmakers who have made far more films than the Waco native. In 35 years, Malick has made a measly three movies. Right?

Wrong. Malick's fourth film — an epic, Oscar-angling motion picture titled "The New World," starring It-boy Colin Farrell, no less — will be released Nov. 9. And we ask: Where did this come from? And: Where's "Che"? Mr. Malick, you confound.

We were not prepared for a new movie by Malick, whose other films — "Badlands" (1973), "Days of Heaven" (1978) and "The Thin Red Line" (1998) — are widely regarded masterpieces. Such a release is a confetti-ready occasion for cinephiles, who trail the work of favorite directors like slavish bird dogs, tails wagging, waiting for a doggie treat. This time: No treat. Bad dog.

Some Malick-adoring colleagues and I were blindsided by recent trailers for "The New World," just as I was by the film's press booklet, sent from New Line Cinema right as the summer movie season was kicking off. A PR memento standard with so-called prestige films, the oversized picture album is dense with lustrous color stills from the movie — a historical drama about the fabled romance between John Smith and Pocahontas and the prickly relations between Europeans and Native Americans. The book is laced with behind-the-scenes quotes from the producers, crew and actors.

But there's not a peep from Malick, who only wrote and directed "New World," that's all. It's amusing to see how New Line worked around Malick's obvious disdain for bowing to something so vulgar as promotion. So there are optimistic musings by Farrell, producer Sarah Green and . . . the costume designer. Effusive third-person allusions to "Terry" abound:

"Terry loves texture . . ."

"Terry is one of the few directors who doesn't look at drawings."

"I love the fact that Terry doesn't use lights."

"I think that Terry sees the story as a very real dream."

That last one comes from co-star Christopher Plummer, who plays Captain Christopher Newport, joining Farrell (as John Smith), 14-year-old newcomer Q'Orianka Kilcher (as Pocahontas), Christian Bale and Wes Studi.

Plummer "thinks" Terry sees the story as a dream. Yes, but what does Terry think? Oh.

According to trade reports, here's what happened to "Che": Malick wanted extra preproduction time on the movie, which he planned to shoot on location in Bolivia. He wanted to push the start date back a year. In the meantime, he chose to shoot his script for "The New World," the filming of which, in Williamsburg, Va., would be easier than for "Che." Director Steven Soderbergh took over "Che" and, with Del Toro in the lead, will begin shooting next month. Malick keeps his writing credit.

"The New World" can't elude comparisons to Michael Mann's "The Last of the Mohicans." But anyone familiar with Malick's cinematic technique should know better. Malick is a painterly, impressionistic filmmaker indifferent to linear logic, which he likes to refract through prisms of memory and lost dreams. His movies are deeply cinematic in their faith in the visual. Lingering shots of nature, earth and sky introduce spiritual, almost animistic undertones, lending his films an unmoored timbre that both baffles and bewitches.

Malick, explains producer Green in the nifty booklet, tried to "take the myth of John Smith and Pocahontas and use it to serve (his) vision of cultures connecting and finding ways to move alongside each other. . . . Creative license is definitely taken. . . . This is not (a) documentary."

In other words: Don't confuse "The New World" with "The Real World."

This is Malick's second movie in seven years — a virtual roll for the finicky director, who placed 20 years between the corrosive romance "Days of Heaven" and the war meditation "The Thin Red Line." Though he's been producing films — including "Undertow," written by former Austinite Joe Conway, and the upcoming "The Marfa Lights," co-produced by the University of Texas Film Institute — the Pocahontas picture will be his first directorial effort in the 21st century. One wonders if this momentum will inspire more Malick magic.

The filmmaker was not available for comment.

cgarcia@statesman.com; 445-3649