Review of Days of Heaven (1978) by Zachary B — 22 May 2013

Cosmic, ethereal, maddening, and sublime, Days Of Heaven is extraordinary. The film is a deliberately haunting poem, and the epic scope of the picture makes experiencing it an unreal exercise. What I love most is a film that challenges me. The films of Terrence Malick do just that. Days Of Heaven is a bizarre Hollywood time-piece with an Avante Garde fluidity. Lyrical storytelling is habitual of Malick and his work, but Days Of Heaven is not just lyrical, it is astounding in its complexities, and unbelievably bold in its philosophical austerity.

The philosophical ideas the film meditates on are numerous, but it is impossible to pin even a single one of those deeply stirring ideas down. Sure, in the subtext traces of the natural order of things, and man's place in it, transient and makeshift, or seasonal, in existence, and so forth can be found. The film communicates so much to its audience, but any attempt to try and pass the 'message' along is a foolhardy task, as the film is so abundant with meditations on life, and far too beautiful to hold under the crude magnifying glass of self-referential analysis. The film is too special for all of that. Each and every single viewer will take away something different and wholly unique. Days Of Heaven has the ability to mean many different things to many different people, and I must say that the film holds untold fortunes for the readily open and available viewer. Days Of Heaven is why I love films. The films of Terrence Malick represent everything I've always wanted films to be, but never thought even remotely possible. 'Cosmic' is the word I'm searching for.

So far as I'm concerned, the single most important player in Malick's ongoing circus has always been his longtime editor, Billy Weber. Weber is a genius film editor and without his contributions I am convinced Days Of Heaven would not be half the film it is. Weber assembles Malick's philosophically ambiguous and broad vision into something coherent, fluid, and structurally sound, all the while retaining the grandeur and scope of his artistic intentions. It is as if Weber establishes a narrative for the subtext, a home for the details. With Weber's assistance, Days Of Heaven is not only a beautiful film, it is a beautifully imagined one, expertly assembled by the best scissors in the business.

Viewer beware! Watching the film may cause an adverse effect as the viewer gains a new found respect for its leading man, Richard Gere. Gere has well earned some scrutiny in his career, but bite your tongue until you see his work in Days Of Heaven, which is easily his finest hour. Actors play a strange role in Malick's films. I wouldn't go so far as to call them props, but they aren't the featured elements of his films. Rather the actors make up but a small part of what his films eventually become. No one single element of Days Of Heaven is more significant than the other, everything comes together to create the perfect film. The film is not star-centic, nor are any of Malick's films.

Although I do believe that the actual story of Days Of Heaven is told in the subtext, the base premise is unbelievably well conceived and watching it develop is truly a gift.

In closing, I am in love with Days Of Heaven. Head over heels crazy about it. The perfect art film.