Well hello Terrence Malick. It’s been awhile. Me and o’l Malick may be two Texas boys but we haven’t always seen eye to eye in the past. By that, I mean I haven’t enjoyed a lot of what I’ve seen from this prolific filmmaker, even features of his like Badlands and The Tree Of Life that have scored outstanding acclaim left me more cold than impressed. But I am not one to give up on any artist, especially one that has clearly resonated emotionally on a profound level with so many like Terrence Malick and so I have pressed on in consuming titles from his filmography. It seems I have finally stumbled upon a feature of his that I could enjoy in the form of the 1978 motion picture Days Of Heaven.

Like the majority of Malick’s works (I think only his two most recent films, To The Wonder and Knight Of Cups, are set entirely in the modern day world), Days Of Heaven is a period piece, this time chronicling a tale set in Texas in 1916 that follows Bill (Richard Gere), Abby (Brooke Adams) and Bill’s little sister Linda (Linda Manz) as they ride the railways of America in search of work. They manage to find themselves some employment under a man we only come to know as The Farmer (Sam Shepard), with the trio working tirelessly under The Farmer’s watch in order to keep his expansive land kept clean and organized.

Complications arise once The Farmer takes a romantic liking to Abby, whose already in a relationship with Bill, though they’ve been telling their employers and fellow workers that they’re actually siblings. In order to keep the ruse going, Bill and Abby must grit their teeth and put up with The Farmer’s infatuation with Abby, which eventually turns into The Farmer marrying Abby, which creates further problems for Bill and Abby. The tale is frequently told through the perspective of the much younger character Linda, who provides recurring reflective narration on events transpiring around her younger self.

Terrence Malick’s affinity for grand visuals is very much kept intact with Days of Heaven, oh boy is it ever. The massive countryside that The Farmer owns provides a beautiful backdrop for the characters to inhabit, and like John Ford, Malick knows how to use the expansiveness of the environment to unveil new shades of vulnerability in his characters. It’s also a nice touch on a visual level to make the wide shots of The Farmer’s house seem like something out of a postcard as a way to contrast against the far from perfect marriage Abby is trapped in. It’s an absolutely beautiful looking motion picture, to the point that a recurring wide shot of the farmhouse amidst a wide open field calls to mind nothing less than Andrew Wyeth’s 1948 painting Christina’s World. The transfixing nature of Days of Heaven is enhanced by a sublime score by Ennio Morricone, who reinforces the classically grand nature of the visuals in his orchaestral music.

Another motif of Malick’s work that ends up excelling in the confines of Days of Heaven is his love for narration. The recurring voice-over from an older Linda provides a guiding hand to illuminate to the viewer young Linda’s perspective on events while her narration has a constantly wistful quality to it (especially in later parts of the story) that adds a heartbreaking layer to what we’re seeing and serves as a wonderful compliment to the story. Malick’s also smart to know when to hold back on that narration when he doesn’t need it. The sight of locusts and fire consuming the farmyard, for instance, is a striking enough sequence on its own not to need Linda’s commentary, the visuals can speak for themselves.

I do wish Terrence Malick’s screenplay did give more time for Abby’s perspective in the story though, since so much of the movie is centered around Bill and what he’s going through, I kept wishing for a scene or two to give me some insight into how she’s handling being torn between two lovers. There are also a few story elements in that same screenplay (most notably a visit by a circus) that feel superfluous to the plot itself and can’t quite come up with enough memorable imagery to justify their presence in the feature. Overall though, Days of Heaven is by far my favorite Terrence Malick experience so far and it’s a fascinating tale of romantic strife in the early days of the 20th century told through some incredibly captivating imagery.