Review of Days of Heaven (1978) by Vincent C — 02 Sep 2011

I've sort of been on a Terrence Malick kick as of late and "Days of Heaven" is the latest film of his I've watched. I think most people will say that this is his best film and I understand why, but for me, out of the 4 films I've seen from Malick, this is my least favorite. It's good, and some scenes in this film are incredibly filmed. Like everyone else has been saying this is probably the most beautiful film ever. The cinematography is so amazing and it almost makes up for everything else. To be honest, I didn't find the characters in this film to be that likable. I didn't hate any of them or anything, but I felt no connection.

I blame the failure to empathize with these characters on the acting. Now, the acting is not bad at all, but at the same time it's not the best either. It's funny to see Richard Gere in this role though. It's very different from everything else I've seen him in, and in that respect it was good. Another part why I think I couldn't fully enjoy this film is because of the story. Two hardworking people Bill, played by Richard Gere, and Abby, played by Brooke Adams, go to work on a farm and the owner of the farm thinks Abby is a very beautiful woman and wants her to stay on the film.

Since people think Bill and Abby are just brother and sister Abby goes on to marry the owner in hopes to get his money once he dies. The story actually starts of well. Bill and Abby are working on the farm and it's actually quite interesting. The film is beautiful to look at and it's amazing to see the work the people have to do on this one farm. However, once Abby marries Chuck, the owner of the farm, I kind of lost interest. The film doesn't become predictable or anything, but I didn't feel that involved. I was kind of expecting that though since it happened with every other Malick film I've watched. In the end, this is a good movie, but it's not something I really want to watch again right away.