Days of Heaven -- What Makes This Movie Great? (Episode 50)

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Terence Malick's second feature film, starring Richard Gere, Brooke Adams, and the great playwright and actor Sam Shepherd, "Days of Heaven" is a beautiful movie about temporary farm workers in Texas. The movie is very realistic, but it also has many qualities of a parable or allegory.
This video reviews and analyzes the movie, for the purposes of criticism. It discusses where the title Days of Heaven comes from and what its meaning might be.
The video also praises Days of Heaven and its music and sound, thanks to Ennio Morricone, Leo Kottke, and Malick's great ear.
Understanding Movies 101 Course: joshmatthews.org/learn-more-a...
The Great Movies Series: joshmatthews.org/what-makes-t...
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The Great Directors -- Playlist: • Werner Herzog's 10 Gre...
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See joshmatthews.org for more great movie criticism.

[@MattDollMusic]

A perfect movie. I saw it as a child and thought I’d dreamt it until many years later

[@angelareele858]

That's probably the best compliment ,any movie can inspire.....

[@leeannasloan2292]

Same with me. I vaguely remembered Richard Geres character working in the wheat and bills wife becoming the farmers wife and narration of the younger sister...so the narration and the cinematography was in my memory but I couldn't place it...after 20 years I finally came across the movie on t.v by accident, and it was exactly like I remembered it. What's funny is he brings up Barry Lyndon which was one of my favorite movies as a kid..I was a weird kid destined to become a reader and history major. Some things just can't be helped I guess.

[@robertmulherine8195]

Wow. Almost the same with me. Watched it late one night when I was young and fell asleep, then dreamt I was riding on top of a train through endless golden cornfields.

[@anantambisht4895]

Best compliment out there

[@TheNatehamster]

Such a gorgeous film. The golden hour has never looked so incredible

[@LearningaboutMovies]

yes, even over 40 years later it is remarkable.

[@michaelcullen5308]

The voiceover by Linda Manz was one of the few times I've heard acting in an American film that sounds real, as opposed to the obvious "performances" given by most actors.

[@daytripperhd]

So true. It is mesmerizing.

[@Kevin-yh9yt]

Linda Manz is a revelation in this film. Malick filming her in the last scene, turning around but still running forward, was inspiring. And Gere, before he became 'Richard Gere' is beautiful to watch. RIP Ms Manz.

[@LearningaboutMovies]

yes indeed. Malick tended to find the young actors who would do well later.

[@janetseitz8055]

i agree with you, rip linda so good in this film; and richard gere is so beautiful to watch and has become one of this generations greatest actors and humanitarians. and rip to the great sam shepard. i think brooke adams may be retired;

[@NICKG65819]

I saw this movie in 1978 in the theater when I was 31 years old. The beautiful cinematography, the music including Saint Saens Aquarium, the historical references, the migrant laborers, and the social realism all impressed me. The actor Linda Ganz, who at the time was maybe 15, played Linda, the orphan girl in the movie. What I really love the most about this movie are her voiceovers, narration. I found out later that these were all improvised - not in the script. Extraordinary, is the only word I can use to describe this.

[@LearningaboutMovies]

thank you.

[@jacoblieberman8850]

I saw this film over 40 years ago in a full screened,old fashioned movie house on a bitter cold winter night-beautiful and moving. It repeatedly shows the animals of the fields being displaced and fleeing the men,their harvesters, their fires.They are defenseless ,just as the human characters are defenseless against the onslaught of fate.

[@jimisi7424]

Best voiceover narration in the history of cinema imho. Always brings tears to my eyes for reasons i dont wholly understand .

[@simonboccanegra3811]

I don't think Bill and Abby ever married. I think the main reason they claim to be brother and sister is that a lot of unmarried couples did so when traveling in those days. They'd be turned away from rooming establishments, so they'd say they were siblings or cousins -- easier than accounting for the lack of rings. Malick's script just says Abby is "the beautiful young woman [Bill] loves." (But I agree with Sarah and Abraham as a parallel.) Through a combination of Bill's dialogue and Linda's VO, my inference is that Bill kept hoping for some turn in their fortunes that would allow him to propose and for them to live respectably, and it just never happens. They keep scraping along on the lowest rung. I never get tired of Days of Heaven. It doesn't have "favorite scenes" for me, because they all are favorite scenes. I always have to see the whole thing.

[@LearningaboutMovies]

excellent -- I had never thought of them as not married, though if they are, it would make what happens as disturbing as it seems.

[@CraftySouthpaw]

That's correct, Bill and Abby are unmarried, which is why they hide their romance.

[@RickVed-jc1yg]

Nothing in the movie says they were married. It seems to me they just didn't want people pressing moral concerns about two unmarried people being together, so they chose to say they were brother and sister. .

[@nathanielhudson5038]

Until last night I hadn't seen this in just over 12 years. Before I thought it was maybe a B- film; dopey and shallow yet gorgeous and indelible. Watching Days of Heaven again, I appreciate it considerably more: in visual terms, genuinely one of the most beautiful films ever made. The story it tells is achingly sad and haunting. As someone who has been left cold or frustrated with everything he's made in my lifetime (I'm 37), I really do miss the old Malick. Very good analysis here!

[@irishcougar]

I’ve also noticed each of the four characters can be associated with each of the four elements: the Farmer is air, Abby is water, Bill is fire, and the little girl is earth.

[@LearningaboutMovies]

yes, that's great. makes a lot of sense, in terms of the associations made with them!

[@georgik1963]

Yes, and the whole film is organized that way. Almost every single shot falls into one of those four categories! It's astonishing, really.

[@mycatsnameiskaren8253]

"mud doctor" stuck in my head as soon as I heard it. What a line. Even more so now that I know it was improvised.

[@CraftySouthpaw]

The answer to the title question is "Everything." Days of Heaven is my #1 all-time favorite movie.

[@lex6819]

I've seen this film so many times, and the cinematography just never fails to amaze me.

[@LearningaboutMovies]

yes, it is not dated at all.

[@knickit]

My favorite film of all time.

[@Davilla888]

I saw this in the theater when I was 8 years old and I LOVED Linda Manz Beautiful film!! Pure mood and ageless

[@tonycaleb8673]

Natural lighting brought realism out of the screen like I've never seen before or since.

[@etherealtb6021]

Thank you for introducing this masterpiece to more people!

[@LearningaboutMovies]

you're welcome!

[@hughstephenson7655]

Wonderfully commented on a gorgeously BEAUTIFUL FILM

[@carlh.h.2242]

Bravo, you put it all together for me. It’s all so simple and so deep.

[@MrTheBest247]

Easily the best Malick to me. As someone who left the religious community, this one brought me back in a sense to at least respect the intentions and the humanity of the stories the film portrays. Hard to think of a movie that's more all around perfection than this.

[@LearningaboutMovies]

thank you.

[@TTykwer]

I think Terence Malick's movies are so beautiful. I've seen most of his feature films including Days of Heaven, which is the one that got excited me to go and watch more of his films. Thank you for the very nice balanced commentary of Days of Heaven.

[@LearningaboutMovies]

truly beautiful. you're welcome.

[@RadicalSpikee]

I can't believe how similar taste in movies we share, I came accidentally to your channel when was browsing thru reviews of Tenat (which greatly disappointed me) and upon further investigation found many videos which I couldn't agree with more, particularly one about Stalker. About Days of Heaven, It's such a visually stunning looking movie, which reminds me of Hero, Samsara, Gravity or The Fall. I saw it only once 5-7 years ago but seems like with every passing year I'm getting more and more obsessed with that beautiful painting. There is something about this movie, I thing it has perfect balance between art and entertainment, story is intriguing, but not too complex, movie also doesn't pass any judgement, it's in a sense almost like documentary film. Movie also reminds me for some reason of a book called One hundred years of solitude, what I mean by this is that age, sex, occupation, lifestyle doesn't matter, you can find something for you in it. For me it's a hallmark of a true masterpiece.

[@LearningaboutMovies]

excellent, thank you. glad you found a like mind!

[@johnappleby405]

Good analysis which enhanced my enjoyment of this terrific film

[@cannibalholocaust3015]

It made me think of Barry Lyndon, the painting frame quality to it. You get the sense TM shot loads of footage and chose the little bits of inspiration and organic moments featuring animals etc. The large house reminded me of the one in Beetlejuice.

[@mimicrybypravesh]

Sam Shepard is the best character in the movie.

[@LearningaboutMovies]

he and his weathervane.

[@simonboccanegra3811]

Dianne Crittenden, who cast Malick's first three films (and a lot of other famous movies, e.g., Star Wars, Witness, Pretty Woman), didn't want Shepard for this. She was pushing for Tommy Lee Jones as the farmer, partly because she thought he was more physically right, and partly because she didn't know if Shepard could act. He was known more as a playwright. Malick went with his intuition, and obviously, we got not only a great performance but the launch of a great screen career. He's especially touching in that scene in which the farmer talks to Abby in the bedroom. Earlier he had said, "I think I love you," and the dialogue in the bedroom scene (which Malick let Shepard contribute) sounds like love as described by someone who isn't really sure what it is. "I thought if only I could touch your hair that everything would be all right [...] Sometimes it's like you're right inside of me, you know. That I can hear your voice and feel your breath and everything." I think Gere and Adams do underrated work in this film, and they're such a beautiful couple, but Shepard can get so much out of very little.

[@etherealtb6021]

I think he was meant to be!

[@tonyshazam6271]

Really loved your review

[@LearningaboutMovies]

thank you.

[@drdavid1963]

You've pretty much covered it. It is a rich, dense and fascinating movie. Badlands is worth a mention, not only for its similar pictorial beauty but also its non-judgemental view of the underprivileged. Days of Heaven depicts a different time and place, of course, and I think he makes the biblical and spiritual dimension more explicit. In Badlands, it is implied, but only obliquely. The matter-of-fact unreliable narrator appears in the form of Sissy Spacek's character in Badlands. Malick's non-judgemental style and a purposefully oblique narration leaves it for the audience to decide. Days of Heaven COULD be a reference to the bible (and I'm sure that is Malick's intention) but it could also be up to the audience to decide. Considering the lack of clear perspective on the events - are we meant to root for the itinerant workers or Sam Shepard's character? - it is true that the title's link to the Garden of Eden and the contrasting fraudulent behaviour, the exploitative treatment of workers etc...may indicate that the Days of Heaven is a lost paradise the characters may search for and can't get back to and Malick's attitude is to cast a compassionate eye on all of God's children as being destined to suffer on Earth. or it could, as you say, represent the brief days enjoyed by the visiting workers on the farm living in the farmhouse. However, as Gere's character ends up killing the landowner, even in such circumstances, it seems Malick is saying, flawed humans will always find a way to throw away whatever 'days of heaven' are given to them because of their weaknesses. And I don;t think this is meant to be a criticism. Much like The Thin Red Line which starts with the voiceover 'why does nature vie with itself? and ends on the line (after much suffering and flawed human behaviour), 'all things shining'. In other words, despite their imperfections, all human beings are forgiven in the eyes of God. And let's not forget that movie also starts with a Garden of Eden section, a lost paradise that cannot be returned to before the war action begins. This is part of a larger discussion that recalls Robert Bresson and his similar attitudes to his characters but I DO think there is a rhapsodic, religiously influenced, transcendental or holy depiction of the beauty of nature in Malick's films that is intended to represent the divine and the human beings are presented as flawed in contrast. To what end is a point of debate. Despite this, I have my own view of the film which doesn't ally with Malick's and rests instead with the authenticity and lack of sentimentality in Malick's portrayal of this milieu and period; that same authenticity rises your empathy with the characters and, in particular, however you read the cinematography and the selection of his shots of nature, they are unique in cinema and frame his stories in a way that makes them truly cinematic.

[@Dancing-Spirits]

Most beautiful American movie ever created. Also my #1

[@donna25871]

Found out that the great Ennio Morricone wrote the score.

[@mrrrl795]

Another LaM recommendation to add to my watchlist. I'm exciting that movie theaters are opening back up. Most are showing lots of classics that I was not able to see so I will be hitting those up. Will also be watching this since you've mentioned it before.

[@LearningaboutMovies]

hopefully decent classics. We've got Harry Potter around here.

[@mrrrl795]

@@LearningaboutMovies let's see, we have Batman (Keaton), Jurassic Park, The Matrix, Back to the Future, Indiana Jones, Grand Budapest Hotel to name a few. Much better selection than Harry Potter lol

[@LearningaboutMovies]

I live in no-man's land. Ferris Bueller and Goonies was here too; nothing I haven't seen too many times. Would've liked to have seen Budapest Hotel on the big screen. Enjoy!

[@alexanderramirez9136]

I haven’t seen this movie yet. But I’m looking for it on DVD. To me this movie looks like a love story and I love movies like that. But I can’t believe that’s Richard Gere and Sam Shepard! So young back then. But besides the point. I love the title of the movie and everything in this movie looks beautiful. I hope I can find it on DVD and watch it with my wife. She might cry at the end of the lover getting killed. But we will watch this movie together if I ever find a DVD version of it. I’m sure I’m gonna love this movie.

[@LearningaboutMovies]

should be easily available.

[@stuffnva]

The film that introduced me to Malick and my favorite film of all time. Seen in 70mm in 1978. Its a shame there are no longer any 70mm prints.

[@LearningaboutMovies]

excellent! they might make a comeback, as records have, for similar reasons.

[@stuffnva]

@@LearningaboutMovies The 70mm fromat is seeing a resurgence but sadly very few theaters in the US have the equipment or the staff qualified to run it.

[@agustinrrrr]

What a great director. You should talk about the tree of life someday

[@LearningaboutMovies]

I did! kzbin.info/www/bejne/o6rcaKOEdsiApdE

[@iniohos2]

All these reasons r good but...the movie is a masterpiece because of ❤ BROOKE ADAMS ❤

[@lolizorz]

Really interesting channel you have here.I'm late to the party,but I subbed anyway

[@LearningaboutMovies]

thank you and welcome.

[@thetooginator153]

I like Malick’s movies for the same reason Dr. Matthews does: they’re beautiful. The first Malick movie I saw was “Badlands”, which also had an ethereal quality to it. As Dr. Matthews noted, Days of Heaven was almost entirely filmed at the golden hour, so everything had a beautiful reddish-brown tint to it - but not like artificial sepia. I hadn’t head the Garden of Eden theory, but it makes sense.

[@LearningaboutMovies]

thank you

[@UpperCrustthe3rd]

This is a perfect movie.

[@gdwlaw5549]

Thankyou …

[@kingech_B15]

Maybe I need to watch the remastered version.

[@janetseitz8055]

i love days of heaven; it is fantastic cinema'

[@marknelson2-ih6sq]

#1 the music

[@daytripperhd]

mailck didnt think that deeply. He didn’t even think of having the girl narrate until the editing phase. and then he had her improvise as she watched certain scenes. What he was though was naturally artistic with the lens and with realism on film.

[@LearningaboutMovies]

saying Malick didn't "think deeply" is a problem. Everybody knows his philosophical pedigree.

[@daytripperhd]

@@LearningaboutMovies I just meant about the concept this shot "means" this or that. It is fun to do that and find themes, but he was more interested in getting good shots in natural lighting to the point where the camera crew almost quit. He shot a bunch of scenes, rolls and rolls of film and then made a movie in the editing room. It took him 2 years to edit this film and while doing so was not exactly sure what it all meant. None of us can know for sure what his philosophical pedigree is because he does not do interviews. It is always through the observations of people around him. He did write the script though, so his philosophy speaks for itself on the other hand. The movie is a masterpiece, and your video is the best I have seen on it. Perhaps I mean that you are thinking too deeply on it, but then again this is "learning about movies." In closing movies are MORE than just themes and symbolism. There is a construct. If he saw this video, he might say you are giving him too much credit. Goof stuff though.

[@dougo891]

One of the really interesting scenes is when all the Locust seem to be rising up. They were dropped from a helicopter and the film was run in reverse. And I am not sure if those are really Locusts

[@Handonforehead]

They were peanut shells

[@cannibalholocaust3015]

Thanks, had been wondering about that shot. It looks really great.

[@prilljazzatlanta5070]

Days of Heaven is one of those experiences that is so immersive that my heart pounds. It feels like you just took a time machine to the early 1900s and i shouldnt be able to witness what im seeing

[@dougo891]

What about the aquarium movement from Carnival of the Animals that is also used in the soundtrack?

[@LearningaboutMovies]

I don't recall where it's used. Books could be written on Malick's musical choices and why he makes them.

[@dougo891]

@@LearningaboutMovies it's used at the very beginning of the film and several times thereafter

[@kevzsabz8253]

This film is illuminated by magic hour glow and wistful performances from its cast. This Terrence Mallick masterpiece is a visual treat that finds eloquent poetry in its spare scenario. The cinematography in this film in particular is one of the best i've seen definitely. I give this a 9.2/10 rating. I also added this on my 500 Greatest Films list. 😊😊👍👍

[@LearningaboutMovies]

compare it to HEaven's Gate, which came out two years later, and there's no comparison.

[@shhh3185]

I'm 55 and so surprised I never even HEARD of this movie! I came upon it by accident and watched it just now. I wish I had a home cinema! Great movie ....and Omg, Sam Shepherd being hotter than THE Richard Gere blew my mind.

[@LearningaboutMovies]

excellent!

[@enriquebrinkgaxiola7116]

Gracias por los subtítulos en español.

[@LearningaboutMovies]

That is thanks to youtbe I believe.

[@charlesdarnay5455]

I don't think Bill and Abby were ever married, though. I believe they were unmarried lovers, which would have been scandalous to the unsophisticated people of that time, and that is what Bill didn't want people to know... "you know how people are, you tell 'em something, they start talking..." There would have been no reason to keep a marriage secret, but all sorts of reasons to keep their actual relationship away from gossiping mouths. Hence Bill's violent reaction when one of the farm workers remarks, "Your 'sister' keeps you warm at night, does she...?"

[@LearningaboutMovies]

I thought there was a line about their marriage. Someone can come along and definitively confirm or deny.

[@NeverTakeNoShortcuts]

Never saw a movie I loved more than this one.

[@LearningaboutMovies]

excellent, glad you love it.

[@VinelSeason]

Wait, I always thought Abby and Bill were actually siblings. And I was a bit weirded out by the incest (or so I thought). When was it said that they aren’t?

[@LearningaboutMovies]

The narrator says that, yet she may be wrong.

[@tammyclay62]

Bill should have left Abbey alone after she fell in love with the farmer. He had no one to blame but himself.

[@maytedrew8638]

I love the cinematography and the actors are great. However, the movie does not pull it off for me. I can understand why other people would love it. I love cast.

[@tomislavcehajic9642]

Badlands is better

[@LearningaboutMovies]

Interesting.

[@cookieface80]

Good movie, but not great.

[@Prophet017]

For me this movie was all style no substance....

[@LearningaboutMovies]

I tried to argue otherwise.

[@stanleydolan5609]

It’s to the interpretation of the viewer which the director portrayed. The director having Linda narrate was ingenious, it allowed viewers to remain just that as the story unfolds. And Linda’s emotional processing of the character at that age she portrayed was priceless. Not a child coming to age thinking as a adult. The camera work alone deserves it place among the criterion collection and could hold its own against Lawrence of Arabia. Just a person whom is a student of the human condition which we all are, sorry, no criticism intended.

[@JamesDean-vl3uf]

Thank you for the Bible talk about this movie and how that you spoke on that kind of gives me a cane and able vibe I can't put it into words but they're both looking for approval over one another from this woman like Kane and Abel looking for approval from God and not willing to share his love

[@teribelyea9340]

My favorite film of all time.