"A Hidden Life" Leadup - "Days of Heaven"

DAYS OF HEAVEN (1978) – Dir. Terrence Malick

For the next couple of months, I will be posting about each film by Terrence Malick—one of my favorite American directors—leading up to the late December release of his upcoming film A Hidden Life.

Released 5 years after Malick’s 1973 debut Badlands, Days of Heaven continues the director’s exploration of the American wilderness and the spiritual search for Eden. 

The film takes place in the 1910s before World War I and follows the protagonist Bill (played by a younger Richard Gere), Bill’s girlfriend Abby, and Bill’s younger sister Linda. Bill gets in an argument with a fellow factory worker in Chicago and accidentally kills him. Like something echoing the story of Moses in Exodus, Bill flees with Abby and Linda to the golden plains of Texas, fleeing from his sin as well as searching for a steady job as he hides. He gets a job as a wheat harvester for a wealthy farmer (played by the late Sam Shepard), who Bill finds out is dying and has around a year to live. Bill convinces everyone at the farm that Abby is his sister in hopes of Abby marrying the farmer and obtaining his inheritance, echoing some story beats from Abraham in Genesis. To Bill’s surprise, Abby marries and falls in love with the farmer and the farmer continues to live and escape his impending death. A love triangle ensues. Then a plague of locusts comes to consume the harvest fields, much like the biblical plagues in Egypt.

Spoiler Ahead

 The film ends in tragedy when Bill is gunned down. He tried to run from his sins, but in the end, they caught up with him. The story is one of tragedy and loss. However, much of the film is told through voiceover from the perspective of Bill’s younger sister Linda. The film has sometimes been criticized for being emotionally distant and cold to the touch. It certainly is that, but as Roger Ebert points out in his review for his Great Movies book, that is exactly the point. Linda has been hardened by the difficulties of the world and Bill’s sins. She has put up an emotional wall because of all she’s been through. She was taken along for the ride, witnessed lies, murder, greed, and plagues. The film’s emotional distance adds a tone of melancholy and loss. This directly contrasts with how visually dazzling and beautiful the cinematography is. Days of Heaven is routinely cited as one of the greatest works on cinematography ever put on celluloid. Pick any frame at random, and it would likely be beautiful enough to frame and hang in a living room. Ebert writes, "Days of Heaven is above all one of the most beautiful films ever made. Malick's purpose is not to tell a story of melodrama, but one of loss. His tone is elegiac. He evokes the loneliness and beauty of the limitless Texas prairie.”

The American Dream is the hope that anyone in the country can rise up financially and socially, achieving for themselves life, love, and happiness. It’s the hope of security and fulfillment through a steady job and family. Malick uses the story of the American heartland to explore the myth of the American dream and the desire to find Eden while running from the past. He does this in Badlands and continues to explore these themes in Days of Heaven. At the end of both films, the characters can’t get away from their past. They can’t outrun the law. They can’t get away with murder. And they can’t find Eden. 

Rating (Out of 5 stars): ★★★★ ½

Where to watch: Rent from Amazon, iTunes, Vudu

by Mitch Wiley