universal obscenity laws dictate that, and i quote "copious amounts of richard gere are not good for nothin'.", yet tonight i found myself at a first, a new experience if you will - i actually enjoyed a richard gere film. a lot. not that its going to send me on the usual spiral of devouring everything i can find by a particular actor/filmmaker/distribution label (thats happened before) that usually happens, pretty woman dictates that i stop while im ahead.
"days of heaven" is elusive american filmmaker terrence malick's follow up to 1973's "badlands", and was to be his final film for almost 20 years. the exact reason for such a hiatus has never really been explained, with rumours of madness countered by stories of a man who wanted to raise his kids, but either way it makes for an interesting and unique filmmaker. throughout the film we trace the story of blue collar worker ant, bill (gere), as he flees chicago after the murder of his boss. in hand he takes his little sister (linda manz, with one of the most unique voices iv ever heard come out of a child) and girlfriend abby (brooke adams), and they head to work seasonal routine at a farm (presumably texas). to avoid gossip abby and bill maintain the guise that they are siblings, not lovers. under this impression, the farmer (known simply as "the farmer") played with amazingly judged skill by playwrite sam shephard, falls for abby.
the film was largely shot during "the witching hour", a period of time that malick deemed perfect for the look of the film. the photography of the film is the highlight of the piece, where the term beautiful doesnt even begin to do justice to what we see on screen. this combines with the ennio morricone score, leaving us as if we are privy to a feeling of eternal storytelling, a fairytale almost, a battle between good and evil. this is enforced further by the biblical nature of the climactic confrontation between the two men, with swarms of locust laying their own personal attract on a different aspect of the farmer's personality.
the final scenes of the film evokes memories of godard's "a bout de souffle" (1959), a film which gere would later go on to lead the remake of (and thus providing me with enough ammunition to explain my disdain of the guy). the concept of a man running away from responsibility, accompanied by a lover that no longer loves them is reminiscent of the great tragedies, and the concept of a pointless conflict (what is the reason for the farmers death if it maintains that abby still no longer loves bill) resonates with the viewer far more than a traditional "happy" ending can do. the concept of a waterside shootout also reminds of malick's own badlands, with the establsihing scene to both scenes being practically the same (hunter sees prey from afar etc).
sam shaw is foremost known as a playwrite and artist, but it is for his roles in "days of heaven" and "the assassination of jesse james by the coward robert ford" (2007) that i know him best. despite the fact that little is known about the character of the farmer (as mentioned before, he doesnt even tell us his name) he is the character that i felt most empathy towards. here is a man who is faced with the grim reality that his bride holds very little regard for him, and where the typical response would be for the character to fire off in the face of such a scenario, he plays it slowly and in a paced manner, lending the film its emotional and literal structure. this compared in the mind to daniel day lewis's performance in "there will be blood" (2007) albeit in a polar opposite frame of mind. in both films the judgement of the pace follows the pattern of a character, with the characters of the farmer and daniel plainview respectfully delivering.
as a final point, for some reason this viewer was reminded by richard gere's bill of griffith's "musketeers of pig alley', which will hopefully be embeded below this post.
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