WhenTerrence Malickshows up on the set of a film (after taking his usual extended hiatus), he doesn’t shoot images with a camera — he paints. This may sound pretentious, but take one look at his films, and you’ll be gobsmacked by the beauty of his shots of nature and the graceful movements of his actors. While it’s obvious that the Malickian style is a blessing to the art of cinema, thewriter-director divides audiences and criticswith his transcendentalist stories about the meaning of life and humanity’s philosophical existence with the outside world. The line was drawn between Malick obsessives and skeptics with his second film,Days of Heaven, a drama about a pair of wistful farmers in the early 20th century that is so beautifully crafted, it distracts you from recognizing that it also features a career-best performance byRichard Gere.
Terrence Malick Captures the Golden Hour in the Beautiful ‘Days of Heaven’
Terrence Malick’s debut film,Badlands, theMartin Sheen-Sissy Spaceklovers-on-the-run crime drama, is relatively straightforward and minimalist in its narrative construction and style. WithDays of Heaven, the Texas-born director would unleash his signature brand of filmmaking, accompanied by a litany of Golden Hour shots of the sky. The film, about a farm laborer, Bill (Gere), convincing his lover, Abby (Brooke Adams), to fall in love with their ill boss, The Farmer (Sam Shepard), to claim his fortune, would be Malick’s last film for twenty years, mysteriously going off-the-grid until returning mightily with hismeditative World War II epic,The Thin Red Line. Bill’s conniving ways manifest into unforeseen biblical consequences for the local community.Days of Heavenis afableabout the American Dreamand the treacherous fate of trying to break out of a downtrodden life.
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Power is the best alibi.
While not to dismiss the rich thematic undertones of the film,Days of Heaventhrives on the foundation of its jaw-dropping, dream-likepainterly vision of rural America. Likely to the dismay of his cast and crew, Malick shot the majority of the film during the brief Golden Hour window,which created an endless array of mesmerizing images but made for a troubling and extended production.Despite its short runtime and concise plot,Days of Heavenhas the looseness of a nature documentary, andaccording to cinematographerNestor Almendros, the film was “not a rigidly prepared film.” The heavily improvisational filming style took a toll on Almendros, who laterdeparted the filmand was replaced byHaskell Wexler. Still, shooting the movie in this confined period was no walk in the park, but Malick’s crew, which also included acclaimed production designerJack Fisk, transcended the art form. Malick’s otherworldly visual aesthetic — peaking with the astonishing locust swarm — evokes the simultaneous virtuosity of the open field and the inherent loneliness andseparation between the lowly laborers and the wealthy.
Richard Gere Is a Drifter Longing for a Better Future in ‘Days of Heaven’
On the cusp of his rise tobecoming a major movie starwithAmerican GigoloandAn Officer and a Gentleman, Richard Gere gave his most soulful performance to date inDays of Heavenas a farmer acting more like a con artist. After fleeing from Chicago due to inadvertently killing his boss at a steel factory, Bill persuades Abby to pose as his sister to deter gossip about their lack of marital status. In this film that expresses so much innate beauty with its visual language, Gere, with a searing internal intensity,conveys fleeting romanticismas he watches his girlfriend fall for The Farmer’s sincerity and deeply felt consideration of life as death lurks around the corner. Gere, a traditionally handsome,clean-cut movie star, can be a bland source of drama without proper care, but Malick uses his likeness as a canvas to gaze at the mystery of the world.
The gorgeous natural-light cinematography, authentically rich production design, and luscious visual aesthetic were unanimously praised in 1978, but Terrence Malick’s script was asource of divisiveness. Skeptical critics shared the notion that, in the film, “the story becomes secondary to the visuals,” asMonica Engwrote in theChicago Tribune. Malick’s harshest critics are quick to dismiss his films as self-indulgent and pompous, which is a product of his preference for reserved subtext. Many films are perhaps too focused on visual style, butDays of Heaven’s thematic undertones are in complete lockstep with the breathtaking photography.If the burning passion of the love triangle feels cold and distant, especially against the backdrop of such pretty visuals, it’s because it mirrors Bill and Abby’s alienation as drifters.Days of Heavenhas stood the test of time because it’s more than just a spectacle-driven appreciation of nature. With Terrence Malick, the beauty of his films can’t always be analyzed empirically,but anytime you watch his movies, you know you’reexperiencing a masterpiece.
Days of Heavenis available to watch on Paramount+ in the U.S.
Watch on Paramount+
Days of Heaven
A hot-tempered farm laborer convinces the woman he loves to marry their rich but dying boss so that they can have a claim to his fortune.
