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DAYS OF HEAVEN
Directed by Terrence Malick; with Richard Gere, Brooke Adams, Sam Shepard,
Linda Manz, Robert Wilke, and Stuart Margolin
1978
ince
celebrated director Terrence Malick's entire career consists of only
three Hollywood films, we're lucky he's a Texan and that the West serves
as the subject in two of his works. Days of Heaven, the story
of an immigrant family from Chicago who come to Texas as migrant workers
is a beautifully shot, poetic movie filled with yellow light and fields
of sensually swaying wheat. Richard Gere is the young man on the road
with his sister (Manz) and his lover (Adams), disguised as his other
sister, who have come South seeking better living conditions. After
one West Texas harvest, the lone (and lonely) farmer (Shepard) with
the mansion on the hill asks the trio to stay, mainly so he can marry
the woman whom he believes is the older sister. In what has become Malick's
trademark, the film is short on dialogue in favor of narrative voice-over,
delivered this time in the somewhat misplaced urban accent of the tough
little girl who leads us through this artsy, ill-fated love triangle
with commentary wise beyond her years.
ince
celebrated director Terrence Malick's entire career consists of only
three Hollywood films, we're lucky he's a Texan and that the West serves
as the subject in two of his works. Days of Heaven, the story
of an immigrant family from Chicago who come to Texas as migrant workers
is a beautifully shot, poetic movie filled with yellow light and fields
of sensually swaying wheat. Richard Gere is the young man on the road
with his sister (Manz) and his lover (Adams), disguised as his other
sister, who have come South seeking better living conditions. After
one West Texas harvest, the lone (and lonely) farmer (Shepard) with
the mansion on the hill asks the trio to stay, mainly so he can marry
the woman whom he believes is the older sister. In what has become Malick's
trademark, the film is short on dialogue in favor of narrative voice-over,
delivered this time in the somewhat misplaced urban accent of the tough
little girl who leads us through this artsy, ill-fated love triangle
with commentary wise beyond her years. 
