Days of Heaven

I am becoming a fan of Terrence Malick. My wife tells me I can be contrary sometimes and perhaps Malick's refusal to make a movie anyway but the way he pictures it is something I admire.

This 1978 movie was his second film. Typical of what was to come from Malick it took over two years for him to edit, as he filmed an enormous amount of scenes and struggled to put the story together. Finally using narration by the young girl in the movie he was able to bring the picture to match his vision.

When it was released it was critically disparaged with only the cinematography being highlighted. Over time the critics have changed their minds, as have later viewers as it often receives very high ratings from any of the rating services which measure such things.

For me the movie was almost perfect. The filming itself, the scenery, the animals, the mountains, lakes and fields. The rustling of the wheat fields in the wind, everything that is filmed is filmed exquisitely. It might be the most beautifully filmed movie I have ever seen. The story is a simple one. Set in 1916 we meet Bill, played by a remarkably Richard Gere, is a steel worker in Chicago who after a dispute with his boss at work accidentally kills him in an altercation. Fleeing to the panhandle of Texas with his girlfriend Abby they get work on a wealthy landowners ranch bringing in crops. Adams, an actress I am not familiar with, is wonderful. She appears dark, perhaps olive skinned, and the farmer becomes attracted to her. As she and Bill are traveling as brother and sister to avoid trouble Bill, who has overheard a conversation between The Farmer and his Doctor advising that the farmer is terminally ill encourages her to marry him and eventually she will inherit the farm.

Sam Shepard plays the farmer, brilliantly. Traveling with the couple is Abby's little sister Linda played by young actress Linda Manz. She becomes the narrator of the story, her accent which I cannot place, perhaps it is the stockyards of Chicago, but with a lisp included it is entrancing and effective.

Also of note is the role played by The Farmer's foreman played by Robert Wilke. He suspects the couple of trouble right away and is dismayed when The Farmer marries, to avoid open dispute with this man he thinks of like a son he goes to another of his holdings to run that farm, when he returns at the end of the movie, his face, the lines in his forehead, creased with age and disappointment tell a story all of their own.

If it is not clear I believe this movie is a treasure. Malick does the rare thing, he makes all parties, both sides of the potential conflict, sympathetic. The movie is filmed wonderfully and sparingly. It is a treasure. Anyone who considers themselves a series movie fan has to see this movie.