Film productions that go smoothly, within budget, according to schedule and with cast and crew having a good time on a set are usually those that end up as a disappointment on screen. Consequently, when the production is burdened with constant delays, financial, technical and logistical problems or quarrels between people involved, it is more likely to result in a film that many would call “great”. The second film in the career of celebrated New Hollywood auteur Terrence Malick, the 1978 period drama Days of Heaven, could easily epitomise the phenomenon.
The film begins with a series of black and white photographs that show the setting as 1916 America, a country of opportunity, but also with an incredibly sharp division between those who have everything and those who have nothing. The main character Bill (played by Richard Gere) belongs to the latter category and must earn his living as a steelworker in Chicago. After a quarrel with his arrogant foreman (played by Stuart Margolin) ends with a killing, Bill is forced to leave the city together with his little sister Linda (played by Linda Manz) and girlfriend Abby (played by Brooke Adams). Bill likes to present Abby as his sister, and that would prove beneficial after the trio finds shelter as farmhands on a large wheat field in the Texas Panhandle, owned by an unnamed and wealthy farmer (played by Sam Shepard). Bill overhears the doctor telling the Farmer that he has a short time to live and also notices that the Farmer takes an interest in Abby. Bill develops a plan to solve his existential problems and tells Abby to seduce and later marry her employer; this would allow her to quickly inherit his wealth and share it with Bill and Linda. Abby does so, but the plan starts to go wrong after it turns out that the marriage has surprisingly beneficial effects on the Farmer’s health, while Abby develops genuine love for her husband. This situation makes Bill impatient and is destined to lead to jealousy, violence and tragedy.
The willingness of studio executives to indulge New Hollywood directors was brought to an extreme in the case of Days of Heaven. Malick was exploiting this large creative freedom by shooting only during the “golden hour”, resulting in an unusually prolonged production during which his cinematographer Nestor Almendros began to go blind and had to be replaced by Haskell Wexler. Malick also refused to use a conventional script, relying more on improvisation and different moods, leading to all kinds of conflicts with cast and crew. After years of tumultuous production, Malick wasn’t satisfied with the lack of plot clarity and had to spend an extra year in the editing room before finding a solution through narration by Linda Manz. When the film finally appeared on screen, it won some awards but the audience ignored it, while most critics were unenthusiastic. This frustrating result led Malick to abandon his film career for almost two decades. In the meantime, Days of Heaven was re-appraised and gained cult status, guaranteeing that his next film The Thin Red Line would be greeted by critics and cinephiles as an unquestionable masterpiece.
It would be unfair to say that Malick’s hard work and determination didn’t pay off and that Days of Heaven isn’t a remarkable piece of cinema. This film can pride itself on its great look, especially in the scenes that display life on the farm, when the beautiful nature embodied in endless fields of wheat represents a sharp contrast to invasive humanity embodied in masses of impoverished farm workers, the railroad that brings them, and the steam-engine tractors and other machinery that they must employ. Great images are accompanied by great sounds, mostly thanks to Ennio Morricone, a prolific composer who delivers an original and memorable score that stands among his finest work. Even the acting looks great, with young Richard Gere being quite subdued in the role of an energetic, hot-tempered and morally questionable character. Sam Shepard, a renowned playwright, is also very good in his film-acting debut, while Brooke Adams plays a very realistic role of a woman torn between practical experience, common sense and conflicting emotions. Linda Manz also leaves a good impression, but more as a narrator than as an actress on screen. Robert Wilke, a character actor best known for his role as villains in westerns, gives an impressive performance in the supporting role of the farmer’s foreman.
Malick made a very good, but not a perfect, film. The plot, even with Manz's narration, isn’t clear at times. Malick also at times spends too much time on shots of plants and animals, something that would plague his next effort in The Thin Red Line. The epilogue also seems like an unnecessary afterthought. Although Days of Heaven at times looks much longer than its hour and a half of running time, and although it represents a triumph of style over content, it is still a very rewarding experience for fans of 1970s quality cinema.
RATING: 8/10 (+++)
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