DAYS OF HEAVEN (1978)

Country: U.S.A.

Genre(s): Drama

Director: Terrence Malick

Cast: Richard Gere / Brooke Adams / Sam Shepard

Plot

A love triangle evolves between a couple of drifters pretending to be brother and sister, and the landowner on whose farm they work.

What I Liked

*spoiler alert!*

The title isn’t the only example of biblical imagery in “Days of Heaven.” From the very opening scene, the film takes through various cycles between Heaven and Hell.  That first scene is in a vast, black factory in which the only light is the glow of molten metal and the fire of furnaces.  Workers walk in a circle all day long, taking turns throwing coal into those furnaces in a living Sisyphean nightmare.  Thereafter, the setting quickly changes to the peace of golden fields of grain surrounding a house on top of a hill, which is comparatively a Heaven.  That the narrator’s description of the events in the Book of Revelations accompanies our introduction to this locale seems at first nonsensical.  However, following the introduction of sin into that little house on the hill, when this golden world eventually becomes a locust-infested inferno, suddenly that narration becomes foreshadowing.  Ultimately, we are shown that the Heaven we long for and the Hell we fear are to be experienced right here in this life, in this movie.

The battle between godliness and sin isn’t so much the reason for this film’s importance as is the way that dichotomy is presented visually by director Terrence Malick and cinematographer Nestor Almendros.  A master at capturing both the natural majesty and symmetrical beauty of large landscapes, Malick allows the vastness of nature to dominate both the screen and the story.  Combined with the use of natural light, both from the sun and from fire, the effect is sheer awe at how gorgeous this film looks.

The actors, from the leads to supporting cast, do a fine job.  All are convincingly natural and bring a needed sympathetic quality to each character in a film where there is no true villain, only human flaws.

What I Didn’t Like

There is nothing to outright dislike in this movie.  It may come up short in action, but makes up for the fact by steadily building the tension between its characters until that tension boils over into physical tragedy.  Thus the spare violence is never really noticed.

I suppose the only thing I found the film to be truly lacking in is overall meaningfulness.  Sadly, as beautiful and well-done as it is, “Days of Heaven” never had that shaking-my-head, edge-of-the-seat, this-movie-is-amazing moment the way my absolute favorites do.

Most Memorable Scene
*spoiler alert!*

Okay, so if that breakthrough moment never occurs, what is the standout moment of the film?  Visually, there are any number of shots that are worthy of a fine art galleries.  But the most intense altogether moment comes when Sam Shepard’s character unleashes a fire across his entire farm as his wife and her lover try to escape his wrath.  All of this plays across the screen in a buzzing, swirling chaos of flame, smoke, and shadows that is somehow frightening and elegant all at once.

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5