DAYS OF HEAVEN is the long-awaited follow-up to Malick’s 1973 debut Badlands, and confirmed his reputation as a visual poet and narrative iconoclast with a story of love and murder told through the jaded voice of a child and expressive images of nature. In this love triangle set in the early 1900’s, Bill (Richard Gere) works in a Chicago steel mill, but must flee the city after accidentally killing a man. Heading for the wheat fields of Texas, he packs up his girlfriend (Brooke Adams) and his younger sister (Linda Manz). Instead of a better life, they head straight into tragedy when a wealthy farmer (Sam Shepard) falls for Adams. Believing him to be dying and expecting to inherit a fortune, she agrees to marry him. Their plans change and things turn tragic when the farmer fails to die and Bill takes matters into his own hands. Days Of Heaven is a gorgeous work about the immutability of the land, and the frailty of everything and everyone on it.
Read a review by local independent filmmaker Dale Schierholt on his blog "100 Films That Left Their Mark."
1978/USA/94mins/Rated PG
Written & Directed by Terrence Malick
Starring Richard Gere, Brooke Adams, Sam Shepherd, Linda Manz
FOCUS ON: THE FILMS OF TERRENCE MALICK
In January & February, the Strand will present a retrospective of the early work of American filmmaker Terrence Malick. Malick is one of the great enigmas of contemporary filmmaking, a shadowy figure whose towering reputation rests largely on a very small body of work. 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, precision, and detachment. Over the course of the last 40 years, Malick has only made 5 films. His latest THE TREE OF LIFE (2011), and THE NEW WORLD (2005) have both had a theatrical release at the Strand. We are proud to present the first three films by this remarkable director and filmmaker.
