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Days of Heaven

United States

1978

94 Min
Color
1.77:1
English
  • Currently 4.3/5 Stars.
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DIR Terrence Malick

PROD Bert Schneider, Harold Schneider

DP Néstor Almendros

CAST Richard Gere, Brooke Adams, Sam Shepard, Linda Manz, Robert J. Wilke, Jackie Shultis, Stuart Margolin, Timothy Scott

ED Bill Weber

MUSIC Ennio Morricone

Cannes (In Competition): Best Director, Berlinale, Karlovy Vary (Treasures from the Archives)

Synopsis

One-of-a-kind filmmaker-philosopher Terrence Malick has created some of the most visually arresting movies of the twentieth century, and his glorious period tragedy Days of Heaven, featuring Oscar-winning cinematography by Nestor Almendros, stands out among them. In 1910, a Chicago steel worker (Richard Gere) accidentally kills his supervisor and flees to the Texas panhandle with his girlfriend (Brooke Adams) and little sister (Linda Manz) to work harvesting wheat in the fields of a stoic farmer (Sam Shepard). A love triangle, a swarm of locusts, a hellish fire—Malick captures it all with dreamlike authenticity, creating at once a timeless American idyll and a gritty evocation of turn-of-the-century labor.—The Criterion Collection

Director

Original

Terrence Malick

Terrence Malick is one of the great enigmas of contemporary filmmaking, a shadowy figure whose towering reputation rests almost entirely on a pair of near-perfect features released a generation ago. A visual stylist beyond compare, Malick emerged during the golden era of 1970s American movie-making, bringing to the screen a dreamlike, ethereal beauty countered by elliptical, ironic storytelling; resonant and mythic, his films illuminated themes of love and death with rare mastery, their indelible images distinguished by economy and precision. Born in Waco, TX, on November 30, 1943, Malick spent many of his formative summers working as a farmhand, an experience upon which he would draw extensively in his films. Upon graduating from Harvard with a degree in philosophy, he entered Magdalen College in Oxford as a Rhodes scholar, but exited prior to completing his final thesis. On returning to the U.S., he became a freelance journalist, with his byline appearing in such publications as Life… read more

Wall

Displaying 4 of 126 wall posts.
Picture of Cesar Vega R.

Cesar Vega R.

2Jun13

Única, noble, rara y una fotografía que rompe madres.

Picture of (☯)

(☯)

22May13

It's so easy to lose yourself in the environments. The characters felt like backdrops to the stunning American landscapes. The wheat fields whipping in the wind; the numerous shots of wildlife; the thunderheads rolling in on the horizon; the pastel skylines at twilight... The film is so visually decadent that the narrative felt superfluous to me. It's truly beautiful.

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orangey

19May13

I think what makes Malick an interesting director is how failures (of every type) wander into his movies. You can't truly understand his movies without knowing what went on beyond the scenes (as opposed to someone Like Gilliam). DOH is his best failure, perfection coming from its very imperfection. But when poetic film making is reduced to a gal dancing barefoot in the field you know you've lost it...

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pandakuma

14May13

timeless beauty.

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Fans

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Articles

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Bert Schneider, 1933 - 2011

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With his partner Bob Rafelson, Schneider played a major role in launching the “New Hollywood” in the 70s.

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Terrence Malick in NYC and LA

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Updated through 5/24. "Each Terrence Malick film concerns a lost or squandered Eden," writes Michael Joshua Rowin in the LA Weekly: "the

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Karlovy Vary 2010: A Bohemian Rhapsody

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Lists

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Reviews

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Great Movies

By tuyabid on June 25, 2012

Days of Heaven is truly a unique and a beautiful movie, in a class by itself. I had that opinion the first time I saw it on DVD and still feel the same way after rewatching it after The Tree…  read review

Total Preference to the Emotion of Imagery

By Joshua Dysart on January 3, 2012

This has, many, many times been called the most beautiful color film ever made. It’s hard to disagree. A poetic biblical parable played out in the Texas Panhandle at the turn of the century, it gives…  read review

“But if you've been bad, God don't even hear you. He don't even hear ya talkin'.”

By jaredmo​barak on August 28, 2010

Overwhelmed. The tagline got it right—every sense, by the end of Days of Heaven, will be overwhelmed. Terrence Malick’s second feature film is as breathtaking as you’ve heard, mesmerizing you with…  read review

Movie Heaven?

By Cremild​o on May 26, 2010

Fantasmagórica desde sua notável abertura ao som de Carnival of the Animals (de Camille Saint-Saens), esta obra inclassificável enfeitiça quem nela embarca, servindo-se de recursos ao alcance somente…  read review

Forum

Displaying 6 discussion topics.

days of heaven is a terrible film

6 posts by 6 people over 2 years ago

Days of Heaven

28 posts by 20 people over 2 years ago

Days of Heaven on Blu-Ray

11 posts by 8 people about 3 years ago

Days of Heaven Theme Song

11 posts by 6 people over 3 years ago

Fun trivial little fact about the DVD

2 posts by 2 people over 3 years ago

DVD

Buy the DVD from The Criterion Collection.