Terrence Malick’s Background
Like many of the new wave of American filmmakers from the early 1970s, Terrence Malick studied filmmaking at the American Film Institute. Remarkably, he was surrounded by accomplished people like Paul Schrader and David Lynch. But Malick’s career path was very different from that of most recent film school graduates. Before he enrolled in 1969, he had already developed a broad background that included studies in philosophy, which included translating a piece of writing by Martin Heidegger, and journalism experiences with prestigious magazines like Newsweek and the New Yorker. When Malick arrived, he carried with him a well-written screenplay for his first feature film, Badlands, which was based on the true story of teenage runaways Charles Starkweather and Caril Fugate.
After graduating, Malick worked as a scriptwriter and rewriter in studios, even penning an early draft of Dirty Harry. But motivated by his unwavering will to bring his long-held vision to life, he simultaneously pursued Badlands‘s realization as a side project. After obtaining funding via joint ventures with multiple investors, Malick shot the movie with a nonunion cast and crew while being under budget by less than $350,000. In 1973, Warner Bros. released Badlands to great critical acclaim.
Days of Heaven opens with a collage of images from the early 1900s, most of which depict the expressionless faces of urban poor immigrants. The scene in question contrasts the ensuing visual beauty with the enduring hardships the protagonists face, serving as a moving reminder of the terrible reality that underlies their lives.
Even though Badlands had some outstanding stylistic and tone elements—best demonstrated by Sissy Spacek’s lightly satirical voice-over narration—the movie seemed to follow the general patterns of 1970s New American Cinema. It included purposeful subversion of conventional film devices as well as the dismantling of popular myths; it was inspired by the methods used by respected filmmakers like Bob Rafelson, Arthur Penn, and Robert Altman. But Malick’s Days of Heaven broke all expectations, even the highest accolades, that had hitherto been attached to his work.
Under the direction of producers Bert and Harold Schneider, as well as a group of intimate associates, chief among them art designer Jack Fisk, Days of Heaven was quietly put together. The production method for the 1976 film, which was shot among the gorgeous wheat fields of Alberta, Canada, embodied painstaking attention to detail. Together with his longtime friend and editor Billy Weber, Malick laboriously refined the material over the course of two years to achieve his desired aesthetic—the cinema version of “a drop of water on a pond, that moment of perfection.”
Visual Splendor and Cinematic Mastery
Days of Heaven goes beyond sheer visual splendor, even though the film’s photography, which seems like a canvas come to life, easily captures the viewer’s attention. In fact, given the film’s stirring depiction of the Canadian wheat fields, Malick’s skill at capturing the grandeur of natural settings is especially apparent here, as it is throughout his body of work. However, the film’s visual appeal is not the only thing that makes it a masterpiece of film.
The film’s photography, which was painstakingly planned and executed, does, highlight Malick’s extraordinary talent for creating visually striking compositions. The breathtaking lighting in the movie, which was painstakingly shot on location, is evidence of Malick’s unmatched commitment to his work and his skill at manipulating time and frame.
In addition, Linda Manz’s portrayal of the twelve-year-old narrator Linda stands out as a moving example of urban grit; the idyllic backdrop of the movie is significantly contrasted with her Brooklyn-influenced speech. Her viewpoint adds to the film’s thematic depth and narrative complexity by giving the audience a glimpse into the hard reality of living among the serene beauty of the wheat fields.
Wordless Scenes and Atmospheric Ambiance
Wordless scenes developed throughout the movie, echoing with an atmospheric atmosphere that went beyond simple quiet. Scenes appeared and then disappeared before the viewer could completely understand their narrative meaning, weaving an intriguing tapestry of visual and aural elements coming together in a compelling dissonance. The story thread traced the path of another “couple on the run”—Breethen Adams and Richard Gere as the tragic lovers Bill and Abby—amid the visual cacophony. Their voyage took place against a cosmically significant backdrop, broken only by Bill’s escape from a catastrophic accident and Abby’s disguise as his sister during the Texas wheat harvest.
However, the film’s focus went far beyond the interpersonal dynamics of its main characters and explored the fundamental bond between people and the natural world. The terrain itself became a crucial character, evolving from a background feature to a living, breathing being. Seasons, the fleeting dance of changing light, and the unpredictability of natural disasters all took on a narrative significance that matched, if not exceeded, the central human drama of the movie.
Interestingly, the decision to name only Abby, Bill, and the young narrator Linda as the three main characters gave the movie a feeling of intimacy and directness. The emotional entanglements of Abby and Bill serve as a metaphor for the corruption inherent in the human condition, and Linda’s point of view allows the audience to observe the slow degradation of innocence.
Linda Manz’s Captivating Performance
Linda Manz’s performance perfectly captures the fragile yet ethereal spirit of the film, demonstrating the film’s continued importance and influence. Days of Heaven is a product of the 1970s reevaluation of American mythology, which was marked by a dedication to period realism and narrative ambiguity, much like McCabe & Mrs. Miller before it. The film swings between romanticized Western clichés and the sobering truths of human weakness and moral deterioration, sometimes verging on cliché even as it subtly recalls an American Biblical undertone.
Among the most notable aspects of Days of Heaven, which marked a significant break from traditional filmmaking, was the disjointed and ambiguous narration provided by Linda Manz, who played the younger version of Linda, Bill’s real sister, who accompanied the main characters. In contrast to traditional narrative frameworks, Linda’s internal monologue is difficult to define and goes beyond being a simple literary device. It swings randomly between states of ignorance and knowledge, between observations on everyday things like the weather and deep insights into the nature of humanity. Her words frequently linger, hanging in the air, reflecting language’s never-ending attempt to convey insight and meaning.
The film offers a complex examination of the human condition from Linda’s point of view, with characters struggling with identity fluidity and the fleeting essence of life. Billy and Abby, who want to take advantage of the farmer’s fortune for their gain, represent one of the two different versions of the American Dream that come to light: the one represented by the nameless dying farmer and his workers. But Malick challenges these traditional tales by showing the slow disintegration of imagined civilizations and fantasies against the vast expanses of wheat fields. The wheat, a symbol of wealth and prosperity, experiences a deep metamorphosis that represents the deterioration of hopes and ultimate collapse into disaster.
Critique of the American Dream
Malick’s depiction of the American Dream highlights the innate loneliness and disillusionment that permeate the human experience, providing a searing critique of its idealized façade. Haskell Wexler and Nestor Almendros’ exquisite cinematography is largely responsible for the film’s stunning aesthetics, which have been praised by both reviewers and viewers. The film’s cinematographers, using natural light and cutting-edge Panaglide technology, give it a lyrical realism reminiscent of American painters like Andrew Wyeth and Edward Hopper. The use of prolonged “magic hour” shooting by Almendros, as detailed in his memoir A Man with a Camera, highlights the film’s thematic resonance and evokes memories of John Steinbeck and Dos Passos, two great writers.
With hindsight, made possible by the later theatrical releases of Malick’s The Thin Red Line and The New World, it is clear that Days of Heaven, not Badlands, was the real precursor to his style of filmmaking. His second film purposefully has a more loosely structured and flowing shape, while his first film features a plot that is firmly structured. Malick purposefully allows himself to shoot a wide range of material, not just of the main actors but also of the surrounding countryside, wildlife, and brief sequences with groups of extras. Such leeway in expression continues into the postproduction stage, where picture and sound editing take center stage in shaping the finished movie vision. Although some industry observers have criticized the approach for being unfocused and wasteful, it is in line with a legitimate artistic process that aims to discover the film’s essence naturally during the physical creation process rather than having it predetermined within the parameters of abstract scriptwriting.
Days of Heaven‘s metaphorical foundations strike a deep chord, evoking the spirit of its title notion and presenting clear connections to biblical texts. The film offers a moving depiction of paradise, filled with biblical connections to everything from the locust plague to the devil’s temptation. Malick’s story gently turns the love story into a complex allegory that is evocative of the biblical account of Adam and Eve, in which humanity takes on responsibility for both the creation of paradise and its ultimate destruction, leading to a devastating conclusion.
Days of Heaven also contrasts urban and rural environments, showing the peaceful expanse of Texas wheat fields next to the harsh reality of Chicago. Bill, Linda’s brother, personifies the paradigm of the aspirational self-made man, whose unwavering quest for achievement is undermined by a feeling of futility and disillusionment. His choice to move his family to the picturesque state of Texas represents a search for a utopian ideal, although one that is rife with complications and paradoxes.
Writing continues to be a crucial part of Malick’s creative process, highlighting his skill as a master wordsmith. Notably, Days of Heaven‘s shooting script differs greatly from the film’s finished version. Editing typically results in the reduction of many complex dialogue segments to scant words strewn with mysterious reaction shots and brief views of actual events. Despite the changes, the project’s literary core is evident right away and is defined by a highly stylized and poetic vernacular, an expressive depiction of seasonal cycles, and a fundamental plot that draws inspiration from several biblical texts.
Dislocated Storyline and Mythological Foundations
But even with its mythological foundations, Days of Heaven‘s storyline grows more and more dislocated, much like the story of John Smith and Pocahontas that is portrayed in The New World. Characters like Sam Shepard’s mysterious figure, who represents a haunting presence rather than a fully realized psychological entity, are a good example of such displacement in action. The narrative of the film is infused with a persistent sense of loneliness and isolation, which perfectly captures the existential predicament of the main characters—who, despite their friendship, feel cut off from the outside world.
The narrative structure of the movie departs from typical storytelling norms, providing a fractured viewpoint that goes beyond the parameters of a normal love story. The protagonists traverse their turbulent emotions and aspirations against the sad backdrop of the wheat fields, which are shown as a symbol of both comfort and losing innocence.
In the setting, Sam Shepard’s portrayal of an unnamed, sick farm owner oversees the main plot, which takes place on the farm. To maintain the appearance of a sibling relationship with her true love, Bill, Abby marries the farmer for convenience. But when the farmer unexpectedly recovers, everything they had planned falls apart, and a complicated love triangle emerges against the backdrop of breathtakingly beautiful scenes, highlighting how brittle human connections are.
Nuanced Performances and Candid Moments
The film defies these stereotypes despite the narrative’s dependence on conventional melodramatic tropes because of its cast’s nuanced performances and its powerful representation of candid moments. But the way characters like Bill are portrayed falls short of being truly convincing, exposing a contradiction between the film’s artistic sensibility and Hollywood-style acting.
Days of Heaven, according to the great Australian critic Meaghan Morris, is a meditation on movement in all its manifestations, including mechanical, natural, and human. It is a work that is always in motion. The film and François Truffaut’s Two English Girls have similar themes, and Nestor Almendros, the renowned cinematographer for that film, was mesmerized by the film’s meticulous setup choreography. The surreal home set amidst vast fields is softly tracked by the camera, which captures the actors’ subtle interactions in a painstakingly choreographed dance.
The mise en scene forgoes the conventional fluid continuity in favor of an incredibly elliptical narrative framework. Every unit is a cell that uses echoes, comparisons, and small temporal shifts to nonlinearly reference other film segments. A defining feature of Malick’s filmography, the technique gives the film a spiritual quality as the investigation of love, solace, and metaphor come together to produce a sublime experience.
Rich Philosophical Complexity
The film’s seeming simplicity conceals a rich philosophical complexity that entices viewers to explore more of its intricate story. It captures the idea of paradise gained and lost and acts as a moving reflection on desire and its effect on innocence. When compared to Linda’s folk wisdom and the spontaneous moments that show the characters’ battles for survival, the blazing climax could seem theatrical, but it emphasizes a sense of independence unattached to social norms.
The story is infused with American West romanticism, which stands for naive idealism and the transient character of individual liberties. Apocalyptic speech and Ennio Morricone’s eerie soundtrack both allude to the impending threat of social unrest, which Bill, Abby, and Linda—symbols of a generation pining for freedom—face. Days of Heaven becomes a somber meditation on the fleeting essence of human existence in a changing world in such an intriguing blend of hope and fear.
As with previous great directors, and as clear as day in his early work, Badlands, Malick’s primary artistic goal is to develop a wide range of emotions, images, sounds, and surface textures that come together to create a cohesive shape. One of the most beloved features of Days of Heaven is the way its various musical parts interact, both through Malick’s commissions and appropriations. The aspiration is profoundly expressed in the elements. The film’s musical palette ranges from classical to folk, but the centerpiece is Ennio Morricone’s gloomy soundtrack, with its melodic reversal of Camille Saint-Saëns’s The Carnival of the Animals resonating with thematic contradictions present in Malick’s expansive shots, where land and sky converge at the horizon.
The Magnificent and Terrible American Dream
In addition, the impending catastrophe that the movie portrays is another, equally terrible and magnificent example of the American dream. Days of Heaven evokes a deep sense of yearning, akin to the momentary feeling of paradise momentarily seen and then remembered. The film urges viewers to reflect on the fleeting nature of human existence and the elusive quest for paradise by contrasting various aspects and topics.
Sometimes, especially by people who don’t care for his films, Malick’s body of work is dogmatically classified as a collection of lofty moral precepts or grandiose statements: the conflict between man and nature, the path to God via love and sacrifice, the sneaky infiltration of civilization into a beautiful wilderness. However, these oversimplified readings fall short of expressing the film’s multidimensional complexity. Nothing is set or cleanly schematized in his universe; rather, everything is constantly in motion, with seemingly contradictory ideas constantly morphing into one another.
Days of Heaven is evidence of Malick’s creative investigation of the complex relationship between culture and environment. The film shows how technology and society are inextricably linked to nature through a series of creative vignettes. Every human endeavor, from the most basic garden design to the most creative usage of clothing or tree branch musical instruments, demonstrates an innate connection to the environment. Malick’s profound interest in Heideggerian philosophy, which rejects the idea of pure Being in favor of highlighting the transformative action of human hands upon the world, molding and changing living places and social structures, is the inspiration behind the thematic inquiry.
Furthermore, Malick defies easy readings as ordinary New Age platitudes with his use of cosmic imagery, in which heaven and earth appear to be staring at each other like they are in a mirror. Rather, they provoke a deep introspection reminiscent of the terrible realizations of philosopher Simone Weil. Similar to Weil, Malick presents a picture of a mysterious, far-off god whose presence we can only sense as a faint echo, disconnected from the world around us. The idea contradicts traditional beliefs about divine intervention by posing the possibility of a universe marked by suffering, alienation, and upheaval, in which redemption is only partially possible and expensive.
Films by Malick are marked by ephemeral insights that shift and evaporate all the time. His movies steer clear of tenacity and languor in favor of fluid and dynamic representations of people, places, and meanings. The epiphany of Days of Heaven demonstrates the essence of life’s impermanence, as the narrative oscillates between emptiness and boundless possibilities. Through film, such fleeting moments are expertly formalized and preserved.
Bibliography
- Combs, R. (2024). The eyes of Texas: Terrence Malick’s Days of Heaven. Sight and Sound.
- Ebert, R. (1997). Days of Heaven. Roger Ebert.
- Gaughan, L. (2023). Terrence Malick’s Western Romance Is an Important Shift in His Filmography. Collider.
- Martin, A. (2010). Days of Heaven: On Earth as It Is in Heaven. Current | The Criterion Collection.
- Rebanal, J. (2017). Days of Heaven – Review. Cinema from the Spectrum.