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Saturday, April 12, 2014

Review: Days of Heaven


Days of Heaven (1978):

Synopsis – A man and his “sister” run away from the big city to find work out in the fields. When the owner of the fields, a handsome young man, falls in love with the “sister”, the protagonists find themselves in a morally compromising situation that they may not be able to resist.


Movie #3 in the April Film Project
When it comes to films directed by Terrence Malick, I've never really got what makes them so special. Beautiful visuals/cinematography, sure, but I can get that kind of stuff from other films. In my opinion, the man takes the concept of “show and not tell” and goes crazy with it, leaving morons like me struggling to understand what is happening in the story. I am not the kind of person who can sit back and just enjoy visuals (he types this knowing that his favorite film is currently 2001: A Space Odyssey, making him a giant hypocrite), I love story way too much. I can appreciate the belief that the audience is smart enough to fill in the blanks, but I think that Mr. Malick let’s himself stray too far by assuming that we can relate with the tales he unravels through visuals and small amounts of dialogue alone. Days of Heaven does not suffer from this problem. I was able to follow and enjoy the movie as an entire experience. And enjoy it I did. Along with the other films in the April Film Project I've seen, this is truly another diamond of a film, with only a few flaws to its shinning surface.

What I Liked:
-Well, I guess it goes without saying if you've seen any of Malick’s other work that this film looks fantastic. POV shots from the top of trains, wind rippling through the fields, that house, beautiful and ominous. And of course all our actors are good looking, but the way the camera seems to find each of them at a perfect angle is pretty astonishing. It’s one thing to be pretty; it’s another to look like a work of art.
-Malick’s subtlety of story is usual one of the problems I have with his films, but not with this one. We hear enough snippets of dialogue, combined with the voice-over narrative and the visual storytelling, to understand a cohesive and relatable story in the film. I don't think much of this movie is left up to interpretation. We see actions, we see consequences, and it all looks really good.
-I love the soundtrack/score of this movie. I don't know if it is all famous works, but there were songs in the movie that I have heard 100 times in the trailers for other films. The music fit everything perfectly.

What I Didn't Like:
-If I had to complain about one thing it would be the voice-over narration. While I wouldn't call it intrusive, it certainly didn't feel necessary. In fact, if they got rid of that, they might as well get rid of the scenes of the sister reflecting back on the story while she is bedridden. It certainly doesn't do the actress any favors by trying to force her voice to sound older. I complain about voiceover a lot don’t I?

What I Hated:
-I preferred being one of those people who just didn't like Malick movies. Now I feel like I should see all his stuff.


Verdict:

You want to see a visual masterpiece that is romantic and powerful, while still remaining subtle and mysterious? Bingo, we have your movie. If you decide to watch it, put it on the biggest screen you have and put the volume at a decent level, then sit back and let the film wash over you.

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