Days Of Heaven

Gorgeous 35 mm Print!

“Terrence Malick’s 1978 movie Days Of Heaven was never a huge hit, but it was such a departure and so deliberate an attempt to have the audience stirred by beauty that it felt calming and inspiring. Without shame or caution it was trying to address the pre-modern era of American history, the natural conflict between landowners and newcomers. But it was just as interested in the vanity of men and women trying to tame and organize the wild parts of the country. Beyond that, was this perhaps the most beautiful picture ever made?” — David Thomson.

The answer may be a simple yes. Shot largely in “magic hour” at dusk or dawn, Malick’s deceptively simple fable is set in the pre-World War 1 Texas Panhandle, and follows two young lovers (Richard Gere and Brooke Adams) and his 13-year-old sister who try to make a life for themselves fleeing industrial Chicago for the beauty of nature on a huge wheat farm presided over by a rich owner (Sam Shepard). Unimaginably gorgeous and astonishingly moving, this may not only be the most beautiful movie ever made but perhaps simply one of the best. (PG, 94 min., 1978)