Days of Heaven (1978)

Star Rating- 3
Length of Film- 95 minutes
Director- Terrence Malick
Cast- Richard Gere, Brooke Adams, Sam Shepard, Linda Manz, Robert J. Wilke, Jackie Shultis, Stuart Margolin, Tim Scott, Gene Bell, Doug Kershaw, Richard Libertini, Frenchie Lemond, Sahbra Markus, Bob Wilson, & Muriel Joliffe
Oscar- Nestor Almendros (photography)
Oscar Nomination- Patricia Norris (costume), Ennio Morricone (music), John Wilkinson, Robert W. Glass Jr., John T. Reitz, & Barry Thomas (sound)



Watch this movie for the photography. Nestor Almendros did an amazing job showing the scenery of the grain farm and all the wildlife. You will see peacocks, pheasants, antelope, chickens, deer, otters, and much more.

"Almendros suggested that virtually the entire movie could be shot during the "magic hour". It is a term used by photographers to denote dusk, roughly the last hour of the day before the sun yields to night.  During this fleeting interlude, shadows are soft and elongated, people are lit from the side rather than from above, rimmed with a golden halo, and the entire landscape is bathed in a luminous glow. Naturally, shooting one hour a day was expensive and time-consuming, but they got what they wanted. Whether focusing on a close-up of a locust munching on a stalk of wheat, or an extreme long shot of a rural sunset, the images are rapturous in the lyricism. We feel a sense of poignant loss when the characters must leave this land of milk and honey."-Louis Giannetti "Understanding Movies"  

The plot is very simple, and there's barely any dialogue in the film. There's a reason why it didn't get nominated for anything like best screenplay or best film. Most is narrated by the sister, Linda (Linda Manz) of Bill (Richard Gere). Based in 1916, Bill and girlfriend Abby (Brooke Adams), move from  Chicago to Texas with little sister, Linda to Texas to sack wheat for $3 a day. The farmer (Sam Shepard) is a quite observer who doesn't talk amongst the harvest hands, but he notices Abby. Abby and Bill claim that their brother and sister, and to keep up appearances, they had to be very discreet.

 
The meaning behind the title "Days of Heaven" is based off of a prophet Linda hears. She fears a fiery apocalypse that will consume everything in its path, unless one is judged to be good and saved by God's mercy in heaven:

 "I met this guy named Ding-Dong. He told me the whole Earth is goin' up in flame. Flames will come out of here and there and they'll just rise up. The mountains are gonna go up in big flames, the water's gonna rise in flames. There's gonna be creatures runnin' every which way, some of them burnt, half of their wings burnin'. People are gonna be screamin' and hollerin' for help. See, the people that have been good - they're gonna go to heaven and escape all that fire. But if you've been bad, God don't even hear you. He don't even hear ya talkin'."
 

The farmer (yes...that's his characters name) pulls Abby to the side and tells her he loves her. Abby discusses it with Bill and he's jealous, but consents to view the farmer's love as a great blessing and opportunity.

Bill: I never thought he'd have the guts. Who'd know but you and me?
Abby: Nobody.
Bill: That's all that matters, isn't it?
Abby: You talk like it was all right?
Bill: He'll never have a chance to enjoy his money, anyway.
Abby: What makes you think we're talkin' about just a couple of months?
Bill: The man's got one foot on a banana peel, the other on a roller skate. We'll all be gone in a couple of years. Who's gonna care that we acted perfect?
Abby: (resisting) I held out a long time. I had rich men pay me compliments. Have I ever said anything to make you...
Bill: You don't have to. I mean, I hate it, to see you stooped over out there, him lookin' at your ass like you're a whore. I hate it.
 

The Farmer (Sam Sheperd)

Denis Leary- Sam Sheperd's celebrity look-a-like

Abby marries the farmer and he provides her, and "her family" with clothes and belongings, and for the first time, move up in society. The problem is Bill thought the farmer was going to die, and Bill did NOT expect Abby to fall in love with the farmer, because that was not part of the plan. The farmer noticed intimate moments shared between Bill and Abby and approached Abby about it. Bill decided to leave for Chicago to alleviate some of the tension. Time passes and Bill comes back in a red motorcycle with a side car.

The farmer sees a kiss exchanged. Mad and hurt (the camera zooms in very close to his face which portrays a very intimate moment with this character) the farmer takes action. He grabs his gun, and rides on his horse and approaches bill who's working on his motorcycle. With a screwdriver in hand, he defends himself, and it goes right into the farmer's heart (dum dum DUM!!!)

Here are some still photos from the movie. There's a reason why it won an Oscar.