Days of Heaven

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Days of Heaven is a 1978 film written and directed by Terrence Malick and starring Richard Gere, Brooke Adams, Sam Shepard and Linda Manz.

[Spoiler warningSpoiler warning]: Plot and/or ending details follow.

The story concerns Bill (Gere), a Chicago laborer who flees to the Texas Panhandle in 1916 with his girlfriend Abbey (Adams) and young sister Linda (Manz) to escape a murder charge. Bill and Abbey pose as siblings. The three hire on as seasonal workers with a rich farmer (Shepard). When the farmer falls in love with Abbey, Bill encourages her to marry him for money. Bill stays at the farm, and the farmer eventually discovers their relationship. The farmer attacks Bill, and Bill kills him. Bill is subsequently killed by the police.

Narrated from the point of view of Linda, the story has numerous allusions to the Old Testament, particularly to the Book of Genesis. The title is from Deuteronomy 11:21:

"That your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in the land which the Lord swore unto your fathers to give them, as the days of heaven upon the earth."

In Days of Heaven Malick utilises a similar counterpoint between voice and image to that used in his earlier film Badlands (1973). But unlike Badlands, in which Holly's voiceover was an integral part of the script from the beginning, Linda's voice-over was only added in post production when Malick was unhappy with the dialogue-heavy performances. According to editor Billy Weber, Malick jettisoned much of the film's dialogue in the cutting room, replacing it with Linda Manz's haunting voice-over which serves as an oblique commentary on the fatal love triangle which is the central focus of the film.

Malick won the prix de la mise en scène (best director award) at the 1979 Cannes Film Festival for Days of Heaven.

The film won an Academy Award for Best Cinematography. Per Academy custom, the award was given in the name of principal photographer Nestor Almendros. This was somewhat controversial, as renowned cinematographer Haskell Wexler also received credit on the film. Wexler has complained about not receiving an Oscar statue for his contributions to the work.

The film was nominated for Academy Awards for Costume Design, Original Score, and Sound.

Contents

1 Production Notes
2 Trivia
3 External links
4 Source
5 References

Production Notes

According to Peter Biskind's article in the December 1998 issue of Vanity Fair magazine, making the film was quite difficult with Malick reportedly clashing with both Richard Gere and the film's producers, Bert and Harvey Schneider. In post-production, Malick then spent two years editing the film. Exhausted from working on the project, Malick subsequently moved to Paris with his girlfriend.

Trivia

The following were taken from a 2004 interview with Shepherd published in The Village Voice.[link]

Exteriors for the film were shot in Alberta, Canada. Jack Fisk constructed the outdoor sets from plywood, including the farmer's house.

After a year of editing, Malick called Shepherd to Los Angeles to shoot inserts. Close-ups of the actor shot under a freeway overpass were cut into the final film.

The image of Bill falling face-first into water was filmed in a large aquarium in Sissy Spacek's living room.

External links

Source

["After The Rehearsal: Flirting with Disaster: Discussing Days of Heaven and Dylan classics with Sam Shepard"], by Michael Almereyda, The Village Voice, April 20, 2004, retrieved April 17, 2006

References

Charlotte Crofts (2001), ‘From the “Hegemony of the Eye” to the “Hierarchy of Perception”: The Reconfiguration of Sound and Image in Terrence Malick’s Days of Heaven’, Journal of Media Practice, 2:1, 19-29.

Terry Curtis Fox (1978), ‘The Last Ray of Light’, Film Comment, 14:5, Sept/Oct, 27-28.

Martin Donougho (1985), ‘West of Eden: Terrence Malick’s Days of Heaven’, Postscript: Essays in Film and the Humanities, 5:1, Fall, 17-30.

Robert Ebert, Review of Days of Heaven, Chicago Sun-Times Inc (http://www.suntimes.com/ebert/greatmovies/heaven.html)

Terrence Malick (1976), Days of Heaven, Script registered with the Writers Guild of America, 14 Apr; revised 2 Jun.

Brooks Riley (1978), ‘Interview with Nestor Almendros’, Film Comment, 14:5, Sept/Oct, 28-31.

Janet Wondra (1994), ‘A Gaze Unbecoming: Schooling the Child for Femininity in Days of Heaven’, Wide Angle, 16:4, Oct, 5-22.

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