A steelworker flees with his lover and sister to a Texas farm after killing a boss in Terrence Malick's second feature film Days of Heaven.
It's a film of beguiling simplicity, and perfectly suits the short runtime of just 93 minutes. There's just enough substance in the narrative to keep it intriguing, as Bill (Richard Gere) and Abby (Brooke Shields) pretend to be brother and sister to prevent gossip. When Bill hears that the young farmer who owns the land (Sam Shepard) has been given one year to live, he encourages Abby to marry him so they can inherit his money once he dies.
It sets up a love triangle between the trio that provides enough incident and conflict in a stately-paced narrative to keep you engaged. The performances from the main three are also assured, especially from Shepard in one of his first acting roles.
Improvised narration from Bill's younger sister Linda (Linda Manz) also helps add structure to the proceedings, and was the element that helped end Malick's difficulty editing to the film, which took him two years.
However, whilst the story is decent, the filmmaking here deserves plenty of discussion. It's not an exaggeration to say this is one the best shot films I have ever seen.
The cinematography is absolutely gorgeous, and that is helped by the decision to film during 'magic hour' for the majority of the narrative. 'Magic Hour' is the period of time shortly before sunrise and shortly after sunset, which in fact only lasts about 25 minutes. As a result it took around a year to shoot, but I'm glad this level of perfectionism was aimed for by Malick as everything looks sumptuous.
You're able to feel the wheat swishing around you, take in the ethereal scenes at dusk and really be immersed in the environment. It's a feast for the eyes that's for sure, and acts as Malick's ode to nature. Néstor Almendros and Haskell Wexler should be highly praised for their work, and it deservedly won an Oscar for Best Cinematography.
One standout scene that demonstrates the visual quality of the film is when the wheat fields become infested with locusts. A fire also develops in this moment, which creates an almost biblical feel in its terrifying destruction, and signals an important turning point in the journeys of the main characters.
To top it all off the film is scored by Ennio Morricone of all people. His music is elegant and enchanting adding another level of supreme quality to the production.
I do have a couple of issues though, mainly with the fact that the narrative reaches a fairly sombre but appropriate conclusion, and then an extra five minutes are added on which add nothing. If they had been cut I would have been a bit more satisfied.
Also, I often felt like scenes ended too quickly in particular places, missing the opportunity to linger on emotional development. This often meant that there was a stuttering progression to events, and I didn't connect to the characters properly for the first hour.
However, in the last 30 minutes I was far more on Malick's wavelength and narrative momentum was a lot smoother.
Final Verdict
With phenomenally breathtaking cinematography, a fairly simple narrative and an enchanting score, Malick's second feature film is well worth seeking out.
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