From the Vault: "Days of Heaven"

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Terrence Malick makes films like no other person working today. His works, currently standing at four films over four decades, are connected by doomed romance, philosophically simple narration, absolutely gorgeous cinematography, and a feel that is best described as “dreamlike”. In recent times (“The Thin Red Line”, and “The New World) he has turned his attention to significant historical events, “Heaven” almost defys setting, instead living through its themes and timeless visuals.

This is not a film about the story, engrossing though it is. It is a film about images, about mood, about feelings, to quote the great Samuel Fuller: “one word: emotion.” Richard Gere is Bill, Brooke Adams is his love Abby, Linda Manz is (wait for it) Linda, and Sam Shepherd is simply “The Farmer”.

Bill, after a seemingly unavoidable violent conflict in a factory in Chicago, runs off with his girl and his sister (Linda) and ends up on a farm performing manual labor under the view of pure wealth. When his lifelong desire for status erises, romantic conflicts ensue, and our characters become engulfed by the grand scheme of life.

The acting is extremely understated, but fits the film perfectly. Gere is extremely subtle in his unhappiness, but his brooding nature brings the character to another level, allowing him to embody the feelings of the whole film.

In reality, the story is almosy irrelevant. I feel like my review is almost irrelevant. It is a film about life, a film that lives and breathes with no embellishments, and yet it depicts visual feats greater than your best superhero film. It demands to be seen, and it certainly cannot be accepted in terms of a normal Hollywood film.

“Days of Heaven” is edited down to the bare essentials: dialogue is minimal, the runtime is short, and much of the time is spent discovering the nature around our characters. But then, that is how they lived, and in many ways they lived vicariously through the nature that surrounded them. To ignore it would be an insult to the material, and Malick has proven himself as the ultimate in studying man’s conflict within the glorious paradise we choose to ignore.

Inner conflicts are a center theme, along with some extremely complex romance. Malick seems less interested in right and wrong, however, than in studying the predicaments themselves, and how they force people to behave. Malick creates a dreamscape of gorgeous cinematography and surreal surroundings, and it’s far too easy to get lost in the background and forget the plot.

Malick’s film is a masterpiece, an exemplary example of the creative freedom that came with New Hollywood. Never before or again was his photography as transcendent, or the actions more provocative. “Days of Heaven” is, for my money, one of the finest films of all time, and perhaps the most gorgeous bar none. Highest recccomendation.

Terrence Malick’s “Days of Heaven”: 5 out of 5