Days of Heaven (1978)

Synopsis of Days of Heaven

Terrence Malick's Days of Heaven, the long-awaited follow-up to his 1973 debut Badlands, 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 1916, Chicago steelworker Bill (Richard Gere, stepping in for John Travolta) flees to Texas with his little sister Linda (Linda Manz) and girlfriend Abby (Brooke Adams) after fatally erupting at his boss. Along with other itinerant laborers, they work the harvest at a wealthy, ailing farmer's ranch, but the farmer (playwright Sam Shepard) falls in love with Abby, and, believing her to be Bill's sister, asks the three to stay on at his elysian spread. Seeing it as his one real chance to escape perpetual poverty, Bill urges Abby to marry the sick man. Marriage, however, has more restorative powers, and the farmer has more magnetism, than Bill had planned. "Nobody's perfect," Linda impassively observes in one of her many voiceovers, after their brief paradise is erased by plagues of locusts, fire, and lethal jealousy. ~ Lucia Bozzola, Rovi

Theatrical Feature Running Time:

93 mins

Director(s):

Terrence Malick

Writer(s):

Terrence Malick

Producer(s):

Bert Schneider, Harold Schneider

Theatrical MPAA Rating:

PG(Violence, Adult Situations)

Categories:

Independent Films

• 1979 - British Academy of Film and Television Arts - Anthony Asquith Award
• 1979 - Cannes Film Festival - Best Director
• 1978 - Los Angeles Film Critics Association - Best Cinematography
• 1978 - National Board of Review - Best Picture
• 1978 - National Society of Film Critics - Best Director
• 1978 - New York Film Critics Circle - Best Director

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