:
Richard Gere,
Richard Gere,
Brooke Adams,
more...
:
Terrence Malick,
Terrence Malick
see all cast/crew...
: 
: Paramount
: Drama, Independent, Costume Drama/Period Piece
: 93 min.
: English, French
see additional details...
|
|
Terrence Malick's Days of Heaven, the long-awaited follow-up to his 1973 debut Badlands, confirmed his reputation as a visual poet and narrative iconoclast with a story of love and murder told through the jaded voice of a child and expressive images of nature. In 1916, Chicago steelworker Bill (Richard Gere, stepping in for John Travolta) flees to Texas with his little sister Linda (Linda Manz) and girlfriend Abby (Brooke Adams) after fatally erupting at his boss. Along with other itinerant laborers, they work the harvest at a wealthy, ailing farmer's ranch, but the farmer (playwright Sam Shepard) falls in love with Abby, and, believing her to be Bill's sister, asks the three to stay on at his elysian spread. Seeing it as his one real chance to escape perpetual poverty, Bill urges Abby to marry the sick man. Marriage, however, has more restorative powers, and the farmer has more magnetism, than Bill had planned. "Nobody's perfect," Linda impassively observes in one of her many voiceovers, after their brief paradise is erased by plagues of locusts, fire, and lethal jealousy. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
You might also enjoy:
Badlands
Understated yet unforgettable, Malick's first film was a stunning introduction to the breadth of his talents
Heaven's Gate
Since everyone gets these two movies mixed up anyway, you might as well watch Michael Cimino's once much-maligned, now more respected prairie drama
|
| Heaven and Earth Are Not Ruthful
by RJones3
October 7, 2007 - 6:13 PM PDT
|
|
|
1 out of 2 members found this review helpful
|
"...To them the Ten Thousand Things are but as straw dogs" (Lao Tse). There is no lesson to be drawn from this luxuriously beautiful film. There are images of nature at its wildest, but also of industry shaping the environment. None of the characters is perfect, but - as one of them comments - what will it matter when they are all gone? Which poses an interesting question: What does "heaven" in the title of this movie refer to? Some critics believe that this heaven is the deliverance from poverty that the duplicity of the supposed siblings, Abby and Bill (Brooke Adams and Richard Gere), earn for them and for Bill's kid sister, Linda (Linda Manz). All three are offered a life of leisure by their employer, a wealthy farmer (Sam Shepard), who marries Abby and believes that Bill and Linda are consequently his in-laws. If this is heaven, it is built on a shaky foundation. It is eventually destroyed by the jealousy of the farmer as he becomes aware of the real relationship between Bill and Abby and, perhaps as sympathetic magic, by a plague of locusts and ravaging fire. We might instead think of America in the years leading up to the Great War, which for all its hardship and injustice displays in retrospect a heavenly innocence and vitality.
What ever happened to Brooke Adams? I first noticed her in the 1978 remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, but here her unconventional beauty and sure talent are used to advantage. Complementing the visual splendor of the film is the original music of Ennio Morricone, but there is also a classical quotation. Checking the concluding credits, we find that it is from Saint-Saens' Carnival of the Animals, the movement entitled The Aquarium. A significant choice?
|
| Malick: the Hemingway of cinema?
by lividsnails
December 31, 2004 - 6:06 PM PST
|
|
|
2 out of 3 members found this review helpful
|
The most notable thing about this movie is how much this director expresses through nonverbal means. This is only the second movie by Malick I've seen so it may be a characteristic of his but it's very Hemingway-esque. Language stripped down to the bare bones. No excesses. Facial expressions, body language, even the environment itself (-certainly is a windy/turbulent place isn't it?) all these things communicate way more than words. You gotta have good actors to do that. People say a lot with their eyes in this movie. Or Malick will use camerawork to say something about them so you gotta have a good director too. The first closeup of the farmer for example is shot at an upwards angle with only the empty sky behind him. This certainly is a lonely and isolated but very powerful man who has control over a lot of people. That shot of him conveyed that perfectly. I don't think many directors would've done as well as Mr. Malick did, every shot a beautiful photograph, nothing getting in the way of the story, which is a good one too. It's not easy to blame anyone for what happens here. Everyone's just trying to survive. Even the rich farmer. What more can you ask of a movie? Well done!
|
| Classic
by maritoni
January 24, 2004 - 9:29 AM PST
|
|
|
0 out of 2 members found this review helpful
|
| A gorgeous film. It's languid and rich. Not a lot of dialogue, with nice convincing performances by all, especially Richard Gere. An indie classic. |
|
| >> more reviews |
|
GreenCine Member Rating
(Average 7.71)
174 Votes
add to list 
|
|
|
Your cart
annasto
GreenCineStaff
© 2006 All Media Guide, LLC. Portions of content provided by All Movie Guide®,
a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC.