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Bookmark this pageDays of Heaven (1978)
Director: Terrence Malick
Movie review
From Time Out London
Asking a colleague how anyone could encapsulate the exquisite, earthy poetry of Terrence Malick’s cinema in a mere 180 words, he responded: ‘It’s easy! “Blah, blah, magic hour. Blah, blah, voiceover. Blah, blah, the awesome power of nature. Hyperbolic sign off”.’ Fans of the director’s small but perfectly formed oeuvre will know that these are all indeed typical Malick motifs. But fans will also know that they were put to their most sublimely sensuous and conveniently approachable use in ‘Days of Heaven’, his peach-hued masterwork from 1978 which opens ahead of the BFI’s full Malick retrospective. Richard Gere and Brooke Adams take time out from life to frolic in the swaying wheatfields of the Texas Panhandle, hawkishly overseen by Sam Shephard’s tragic Jay Gatsby figure who eventually lets his suspicions get the better of him. Theirs is a tale of almost biblical profundity: a furtive love allowed to bloom momentarily in this glowing, golden paradise before commerce, responsibility, law and violence put a heartbreaking end to their innocent bliss. Visually and thematically, it’s still one of the most beautiful films ever made.Author: David Jenkins
Time Out London Issue 2141: 1 – 7 Sept, 2011
User reviews of this film
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- Fredrica Cooper said...
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Posted on Feb 10 2011 05:55
what i take away from CA's review is that CA obviously didn't get the movie. otherwise he/she might have seen it 10 or so times as i have, and found it more moving and ravishingly gorgeous in everyway, with each successive viewing. "days of heaven" is truly work of visual and aural art, one that, like a marvelous musical composition or a passionate love, grows more complex, more enthralling and more revealing with each experience of it.
too bad CA. i didn't get the mona lisa either, until i saw it in person (before they put it behind glass). - Report as inappropriate
Cast & crew
Director: Terrence Malick
Producer: Bert Schneider, Harold Schneider
Cast: Richard Gere, Brooke Adams, Sam Shepard, Linda Manz, Robert Wilke, Jackie Shultis, Stuart Margolin full cast
Rated: PG
Duration: 94 mins
UK Release: Sep 2 2011
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