Days Of Heaven [1978] [Criterion] (BLU)

Terrence Malick

Blu-ray
BUY $39.98
SHIPS FREE in U.S.

Amoeba Review

Chris Morris 12/31/2010

The tale is simplicity itself: A young man (Richard Gere), his girl (Brooke Adams), and his spunky kid sister (Linda Manz) flee trouble in Chicago and find harvesting work on a wheat farm owned by a wealthy Texan (playwright-actor Sam Shepard). The couple, who are masquerading as brother and sister, learn that the farmer is terminally ill, and the young man encourages the woman to marry the farmer so that they can claim his fortune after he dies. Confusion, suspicion, disaster of near-Biblical proportions, and tragedy ensue.

Were it not for Manz’s deadpan voiceover narration, this pictorial masterwork could almost be a silent film – director Terrence Malick’s spectacular images tell the story. Shot by Nestor Almendros, who won an Oscar for his painterly cinematography (with an assist from the supremely gifted Haskell Wexler), Days of Heaven is among the most gorgeous features ever made. Filmed mostly in twilight’s “magic hour,” the film is bathed in hues of lavender and gold. It’s a rapturous visual poem that shocks the eye with its beauty.

This picture has more going for it than its looks:  Malick’s lean, poignant script, Ennio Morricone’s subdued score (with a big hand from the themes of composer Camille Saint-Sa



Synopsis

One-of-a-kind filmmaker-philosopher Terrence Malick has created some of the most visually arresting films of the twentieth century, and his glorious period tragedy Days of Heaven, featuring Oscar-winning cinematography by Nestor Almendros, stands out among them. In 1910, a Chicago steelworker (Richard Gere) accidentally kills his supervisor, and flees with his girlfriend (Brooke Adams) and his little sister (Linda Manz) to the Texas panhandle, where they find work harvesting wheat in the fields of a stoic farmer (Sam Shepard). A love triangle, a swarm of locusts, a hellish fire—Malick captures it all with dreamlike authenticity, creating a timeless American idyll that is also a gritty evocation of turn-of-the-century labor.

 

 

 

 

Special Features:

  • Restored HD transfer supervised and approved by director Terrence Malick, with DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
  • Audio commentary featuring editor Billy Weber, art director Jack Fisk, costume designer Patricia Norris, and casting director Dianne Crittenden
  • Audio interview with actor Richard Gere
  • Interviews with camera operator John Bailey, cinematographer Haskell Wexler, and actor Sam Shepard
  • An essay by critic Adrian Martin and a chapter from director of photography Nestor Almendros's autobiography

Product Details

  • Format: Color, Widescreen
  • Language: English
  • Subtitles: English
  • Aspect Ratio: 1:78:1
  • Number of Discs: 1
  • Rating: Not Rated
  • Label: The Criterion Collection
  • Release Date: 12/05/2023
  • Run Time: 94 minutes
  • Catalogue #: 409
  • Region: A
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