The Film Bee Reviews

“Nobody’s perfect. There was never a perfect person around. You just have half-angel and half-devil in you.”

Linda (Linda Manz)

To kickstart my “Voyage to the 70s” in which I watch and review 100 films from the decade (a link to my Letterboxd list can be found here), I thought it only fitting that I write about one of my all-time favourite films first. This isn’t necessarily a straight review of “Days of Heaven” but a look back at the film’s production, as the story of how the film was made is nearly as fascinating and magical as the actual film itself.

There’s something very joyful about introducing a film you adore and have a strong connection with to the person you love most in the world. I had the pleasure of introducing Terrence Malick‘s 1978 film “Days of Heaven” to my husband last year. I’m always wary about introducing certain films to those who I care deeply for. In the past it hasn’t turned out well, with people commenting that they “didn’t get why I liked that boring film so much” and genuinely having a negative reaction to films I hold so dear to me.

“There’s something memorizing about “Days of Heaven” that manages to keep a viewer captivated. The sheer beauty of the landscape and the score has an almost hypnotic impact on us, the viewer. “

So, I was delighted when my husband seemed to respond positively to “Days of Heaven”. When we paused the film briefly, I asked whether he was enjoying it, holding my breath in anticipation of his answer. He replied that he was, and that he wanted to find out what happened in the end. And, when I found myself crying at the end of the film, he comforted me in such a touching way and understood why the film’s ending had such a profound effect on me. I felt so relieved to have finally showed someone a film I love and have them react in such a positive way. It was also a relief to have someone who finally understood why I had such a deep connection to this film.

There’s not much in terms of a plot in “Days of Heaven”, with very little dialogue and action. However, there’s something memorizing about “Days of Heaven” that manages to keep a viewer captivated. The sheer beauty of the landscape and the score has an almost hypnotic impact on us, the viewer. Even though the film’s length is a slick 94 minutes, it feels so much longer (in a good way). It’s the type of film that leaves you craving more; but Malick deliberately leaves certain scenes and plot points ambiguous, with the film ending in such a way that we are left to come to our own conclusions about the fate of Linda (Linda Manz).

For those unfamiliar with “Days of Heaven”, I will provide you with a brief synopsis. The film is set in 1916, and we follow the lives of a manual laborer Bill (Richard Gere, at his most handsomeness) and his partner Abby (Brooke Adams), and his younger sister Linda (Manz). Bill gets into a confrontation at a steel mill, and accidentally kills his a supervisor. He flees with Abby and Linda to the Texas Panhandle. To avoid any questions, they all pretend to be siblings. However, this causes issues when the farm’s wealthy owner known only as ‘The Farmer’ (Sam Shepard) becomes infuriated with Abby and begins to pursue her. Bill isn’t too concerned, because he’s overheard a doctor tell the Farmer that he only has a year to live, so he encourages Abby to develop a relationship with the man, believing that once the Farmer passes away, the three of them will be wealthy. However, Bill soon begins to struggle to contain his envy.

“Days of Heaven” was Malick’s second feature film after “Badlands” (1973) and it’s quite an unusual film to follow up with. “Badlands” seems to have tapped into the ‘young lovers on the run’ theme that had emerged due to the popularity of “Bonnie and Clyde” (1967) so naturally one would assume that Malick would have continued to ride that success with his next feature. Instead, he decided to bring us a far more philosophical and visually poetic film in the form of “Days of Heaven”.

It was writer and journalist Jacob Brackman who was the one to introduce fellow producer Bert Schneider to Terrence Malick in 1975.  On a trip to Cuba, Schneider and Malick began conversations that would lead to the development of Days of Heaven.  Paramount Pictures CEO Barry Diller wanted Schneider to produce films for him and agreed to finance the film, as Paramount were attempting to head in a new direction.

It’s hard to imagine anyone other than Gere in the role of Bill, but apparently he wasn’t Malick’s first choice. The director had tried and failed to get Dustin Hoffman or Al Pacino to star in the film, but due to prior commitments they weren’t available. Then, John Travolta auditioned and won the role of Bill. However, he was tied into a contract for his series “Welcome Back Kotter” which meant he couldn’t take on the role.

Schneider and Malick decided to cast young actors Richard Gere and Brooke Adams and actor/playwright Sam Shepard for the lead roles.  All three are a perfect fit for the roles. Despite the change in direction, Schneider was able to secure a deal with Paramount by guaranteeing the budget and taking personal responsibility for all overages. He would go onto say that the deal was the kind of one he liked to make, “because then I could have final cut and not talk to nobody about why we’re gonna use this person instead of that person”.

“Even though the film’s length is a slick 94 minutes, it feels so much longer (in a good way). It’s the type of film that leaves you craving more; but Malick deliberately leaves certain scenes and plot points ambiguous.”

The film’s production was plagued with problems with a dissatisfied crew who weren’t used to Malick’s approach to direction and Néstor Almendros‘s approach to cinematography. Apparently, the film’s daily call sheets lacked detail and the scheduled changed repeatedly to suit the weather. Almendros and Malick both seemed hellbent on filming during the so-called “Magic Hour”, a period of daytime shortly after sunrise or before sunset, during which daylight is redder and softer than when the sun is higher in the sky. This decision to avoid the use of lighting aids, drove some crew members to actually quit the picture, stating that they believed Malick and Almendros had no clue how to make a film.

Despite some of the crew quitting, and the frustration it must have caused, the pay off is astonishing. The film looks visually stunning. In fact, the word ‘stunning’ doesn’t do the film justice. There’s something so amazing and beautiful about the film’s cinematography, that I can’t even attempt to describe it in mere words. What I find even more incredible is that fact that Almendros was gradually losing his sight by the time shooting began. To assess the quality of his set-ups, one of his assistant’s would take Polaroids of the scene, and then he would examined them through very strong glasses.

There was a reason why the director and cinematographer wanted to capture the ‘golden hour’ and forgo the use of lighting aids, they had actually modelled the film’s cinematography after silent films, which often used natural light. They had also drawn inspiration from painters such as Johannes Vermeer, Edward Hopper ( whose painting House by the Railroad was particularly significant to the picture), and Andrew Wyeth.

Production designer Jack Fisk designed and built the Farmer’s mansion from plywood in the wheat fields, and as you can see from the image above it looks similar to Hopper’s painting. What’s quite interesting, is the fact that mansion was not a façade, which was normally the custom, but authentically recreated inside and out with period colors: brown, mahogany and dark wood for the interiors. The level of detail continued with the costumes made for the the film. Costume designer Patricia Norris designed and made the period costumes from used fabrics and old clothes to avoid the artificial look of studio-made costumes.

“The film’s production was plagued with problems with a dissatisfied crew who weren’t used to Malick’s approach to direction and Néstor Almendros’s approach to cinematography.”

A disgruntled crew wasn’t the only issue that the director faced. Soaring production costs didn’t help, but Malick was so driven to get certain shots that he didn’t seem to regard these budget costs as an issue. For example, to film the “locusts” sequence, two helicopters were scheduled to drop peanut shells which would simulate locusts on film. However, Malick decided to use that scheduled time to shoo period cars instead and kept the helicopters on hold which ended up racking up a great cost.

Production was lagging behind, with costs exceeding the $3,000,000 budget by about $800,000, and Schneider had already mortgaged his home in order to cover the overages. He confronted Malick numerous times about missed deadlines and broken promises but probably didn’t have much luck with speeding up production. Due to further cost overruns, he had to swallow his pride and beg Paramount for more money.

Once principal photography had finally wrapped , it took a further two years for Malick to edit the film. He had a difficult time shaping the film and getting the pieces to go together. A solution emerged when Malick experimented with voice-overs from Linda Manz’s character, similar to what he had done with Sissy Spacek in “Badlands”. Manz’s narration is perfect for the film because we’re unsure of how old she is meant to be when recounting about her time on the farm in Texas. Is she only a few years older than she is in the time that the events take place or is she on her deathbed? There’s such a timeless beauty to her words, dripping full of poetic simplistic beauty. Personally, I couldn’t picture the film without the narration.

“Upon its release, critics weren’t so hot for “Days of Heaven”. Many found the film visually beautiful, but others found its story weak. “

Dispute delivering something as wonderful as “Days of Heaven” Schneider was disappointed with Malick due to the issues with the production costs. Still, when they screened a demo for Paramount and made their pitch, the studio was impressed and reportedly “gave Malick a very sweet deal at the studio, carte blanche, essentially”. However, the director was not able to capitalize on the deal. Probably, to no-one’s surprise he was so exhausted from working on the film that he moved to Paris with his girlfriend. He tried developing another project for Paramount, but after a substantial amount of work, he abandoned it. He did not make another film until 1998’s “The Thin Red Line” two decade’s later.

Upon its release, critics weren’t so hot for “Days of Heaven”. Many found the film visually beautiful, but others found its story weak. Those who were fans, did sing of its praises, with the likes of Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune describing how the film “truly tests a film critic’s power of description … Some critics have complained that the Days of Heaven story is too slight. I suppose it is, but, frankly, you don’t think about it while the movie is playing”.

Other critics were less than kind. With Harold C. Schonberg writing in The New York Times that, “Days of Heaven never really makes up its mind what it wants to be. It ends up something between a Texas pastoral and Cavalleria Rusticana. Back of what basically is a conventional plot is all kinds of fancy, self-conscious cineaste techniques.” Personally, it sounds like Schonberg lacked the patience for the film and was too tied up with the need for a complex plot. “Days of Heaven” isn’t above plot twists and forced drama, instead it’s about celebrating the beauty of nature and humanity.

For me, “Days of Heaven” manages to capture a time before the world became too modern and mechanical. A time where life was brutally hard and unpleasant in lots of regards, but it was less complicated. Human emotions were more visible and less fake, however conflict still existed. It was a simpler time in lots of ways but a harder life. I don’t know why I find myself yearning for it but I do. I’m just happy that I finally found someone I love who I could share this beautiful with.

Photos courtesy of IMDB

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