Badlands (Malick, 1973)

[ayaa1977]

Terrance Malick’s Badlands is a film I watched after hearing high praises and equal amount of hype. To tell you the truth I was afraid I am not gonna find it the masterpiece that everyone thing of it, and it would likely have been me who missed the point, but after watching it I can say it is a near perfect film.

First of all, it is a beautiful film, meditative and poetic; it’s like a piece of fine art. Sissy Spacek’s Holly detached monotonic narration echoes the nature of the two fugitives and reflects on the mood of the film. It is neither judgmental nor manipulative storytelling, the facts are laid down before the viewer and he or she can make up their minds. The camera is merely observing what’s happening and watching those two who go on living without the slightest remorse for the heinous body count that they are leaving behind. He is may be committing the cold-blooded killing, but she is his partner who tagged along since the moment he murdered her father, she is a collaborator and she knows it. She doesn’t condemns nor she ever tried to stop him, and when she chooses to describe him she merely says that he is the most trigger happy person she’s ever met. Not a killer or criminal just trigger happy. Then she continues with him. She claims that it beats being alone, but I think she is getting some pleasure from the thrill of the ride, and when she felt she had enough thrill, she left him simply. As for Kit, he knows what he’s done and he is ready to face the consequences of his action. He is a likeable person if you get to know him, but he is a criminal nevertheless.

I think Martin Sheen and especially Sissy Spacek are wonderful in their portrayal of Kit and Holly. The score and music selection is wonderful, but the cinematography takes the cake in this film, it sets the mood and subtly changes between the meditative scenes of nature which features long shots of the empty horizon, and the scenes of the small towns. You almost feel as detached as our two antiheroes when you are alone with them, but you also feel the urgency and disparity of their situation when they are confronting other people, these two conflecting state of minds are reflected in the framing and the colors of the scenes.

I really loved this film, and the way it was told lend it to multiple viewing, I think it is the masterpiece everyone thinks it is, and it gets a perfect score 5/5.            

[fizz]

Every Malick film, without an ounce of doubt, is an absolute, must-see classic. Every film. None more so than Days of Heaven. If you loved this film ayaa, you will (hopefully) be in awe of that movies scintillating cinematography, humble score and painterly direction. I will leave my rant about that piece of art for when you've seen it and written about it (hopefully soon).

Badlands is a film like none other - it is not just about these two wayward characters, but also seemingly from their limited perspective. The film offers no explanations or sympathy - it is what it is, a film about two lovers who become criminals, on the run from the law. Malick's films are so good because they are seeped in the very things that makes cinema alluring for us - the look, the feel, the sound, all of them intertwined. Anyone could have written and directed a film like Badlands, but no one could have directed, presented and textured it the way Malick does. Rightfully, a masterpeice of cinema.

[ayaa1977]

Yeah I am interested in seeing the rest of the handful films that Malick made. Back in 1999 when I saw The Thin Red Line his comeback film I was in awe! It was a lyrical and meditative look at war and it was absolutely beautiful. Of course it was overshadowed by the more energetic and commercial take on war; Steven Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan, which was a very good film, but was not the masterpiece that The Thin Red Line was. Even back then when I didn't know much about cinema, I knew which one was the better film. Too bad the moviegoers didn't think so and this film didn't get its due commercially. 

[shariqq]

Saving Private Ryan is a wonderful movie, and yes, more commercial. But it did for me what Thin Red Line didn't. I saw Thin Red Line back in 2005 (I think), and I could hardly keep my eyes open.

[ayaa1977]

Saving Private Ryan is a wonderful movie, and yes, more commercial. But it did for me what Thin Red Line didn't. I saw Thin Red Line back in 2005 (I think), and I could hardly keep my eyes open.

Apparently I am in the minority when it comes to those two, so I am in no position to tell you that you are wrong, however, I think you are wrong

[fizz]

I think my views on Malick on this forum are perceived as biased, and obviously I have nothing but blind, absolute admiration for his body of work, especially The Thin Red Line - a film I am convinced changed me and my general outlook to life, war, humanity etc in many ways. Having said that, and while I have no doubt that his film is the best war movie of not just 1998, but probably all time, Saving Private Ryan was one nice, hard kick in the nuts that was probably, nearly as good. I guess I'm in a bigger minority when I say both movies are as different as night and day - their only commonality being that they both deal with distinctly different battles in WW2.

In Hollywood, when two similar movies come out it usually means a bad thing (Volcano and Dante's Peak/Armageddon and Deep Impact etc), but this was, for once, the one time when both films were literally kick ass!

[kaytee]

Oh my man to be watched list has grown exceptionally. Now with exams finished and home theatre hooked up, its time to go crazy.

I have been avoiding Badlands after the slow and tedious Days of Heaven, yes the script is good and all but that could have been told in 90 mins rather than 3 hours.

[fizz]

I have been avoiding Badlands after the slow and tedious Days of Heaven, yes the script is good and all but that could have been told in 90 mins rather than 3 hours.

Wait a minute - Days of Heaven is a very taut 94 minutes long!

[kaytee]

Wait a minute - Days of Heaven is a very taut 94 minutes long!

Well maybe then it should'nt feel like a 3 hour movie.

[ayaa1977]

Ok may be I didn't express my opinion on Saving Private Ryan well put, so let me make it perfectly clear this time: I thought it was a terrific film, a well made blockbuster that actually has a great story to tell. I think it deserves all the commercial success and critical acclaim that it has gotten, and I think technically it is a stunning movie, and that D-Day scenes at the beginning of the film are absolutely marvelous. It is a 4 stars film for me, no question about it. But if it was up to me to pick a film to win the Oscar that year from the 5 contenders in hand: Elizabeth, Life is Beautiful, Shakespeare in Love, Saving Private Ryan, and The Thin Red Line, I would have picked The Thin Red Line, which just like Fizz, left a profound effect on me.

[fizz]

Wait a minute - Days of Heaven is a very taut 94 minutes long!

Well maybe then it should'nt feel like a 3 hour movie.

Maybe you need to see it again.

[kaytee]

Maybe you need to see it again.

Dont have 3 hours to waste

Will try to watch Badlands, C.R.A.Z.Y and Piano Teacher now that I have time.

[ozzylogic]

Wait a minute - Days of Heaven is a very taut 94 minutes long!

Well maybe then it should'nt feel like a 3 hour movie.

Maybe you need to see it again.

Second that.

[fizz]

Maybe you need to see it again.

Dont have 3 hours to waste

Will try to watch Badlands, C.R.A.Z.Y and Piano Teacher now that I have time.

I'll make you a deal - if you watch it on your cool home theater, I'll lend you my sublime Criterion. It's a whole different experience.

[madali]

I remember loving Thin Red Line but that was years ago, and I dont fee like rewatching it to make sure, because I disliked The New World.