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Days of Heaven - Criterion Collection | 
 enlarge | Director: Terrence Malick
Actors: Richard Gere, Brooke Adams, Sam Shepard
Studio: Criterion
Category: DVD
List Price: $39.95
Buy New: $24.95
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Rating:  89 reviews
Sales Rank: 9311
Format: Color, Dvd-video, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), Italian (Original Language)
Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 94 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: IMEDCC1717D
UPC: 715515026321
EAN: 0715515026321
ASIN: B000TXNDV6
Theatrical Release Date: September 13, 1978
Release Date: October 23, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Brand new. Factory sealed. Original Criterion edition. Free upgrade to first class shipping!
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Product Description
Studio: Image Entertainment Release Date: 10/23/2007
Amazon.com essential video
Richard Gere works in a Chicago steel mill at the turn of the century, but must flee the city after accidentally killing a man. Heading for the wheat fields of Texas, he packs up his girlfriend (Brooke Adams) and his younger sister (Linda Manz). Instead of a better life, they head straight into tragedy when a wealthy farmer (Sam Shepard) falls for Adams. Believing him to be dying and expecting to inherit a fortune, she agrees to marry him. Their plans change when Shepard fails to die and Gere takes matters into his own hands. Aesthetically flawless, this film about a romantic love triangle is diminished by the small scope of video. Originally shown in 70mm, it is an eye-catching period piece that won its cinematographer, Néstor Almendros, a 1978 Oscar. Texture and color are the unbilled characters in this tragic tale, and are just as important as the players. The story, sadly, fades somewhat when compared to the glory of the visuals. --Rochelle O'Gorman
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| Customer Reviews: Read 84 more reviews...
 In a word: Brilliant November 20, 2008
N. Corrao (USA)
Recently I took the chance to see the film "Days of Heaven." Originally it was released in theatres in 1978 (months before I was born) and was remastered and released on DVD by the Criterion Collection about a year ago. It stars a young Richard Gere, Brooke Adams and Sam Shepherd with the legendary director Terrence Mallick at the helm.
The plot begins with Bill (Gere) working in an early 20th century Chicago foundry; being harrassed by his foreman. A skirmish between the two ensues and Bill accidentally kills him thus forcing his girlfriend Abby (Adams), his 13 year old sister Linda, and him to flee to Texas in order to find work. They end up on a farm of boundless wheat owned by a rich, and lonely Farmer (Shepherd) whose name is not revealed. While in Texas, Bill and Abby decide to mask themselves as brother and sister to avoid gossip. As time passes, they work hard and long hours in what seems a rustic paradise until the farmer notices Abby. The Farmer begins to court Abby. Yet in another scene Bill overhears the doctor telling him he has about a year to live. And so Bill with a reluctant Abby launch a plan to have her marry the Farmer with the intention of inheriting (stealing) the estate when the Farmer dies. What follows is a love triangle and a series of events leading to an apocalyptic type ending.
Interestingly, Mallick uses the four elements as symbols of the four main characters. Bill is fire. We first see him shoveling coal into a furnace of the foundry. His passion and pride, hinder and blind him from transcending his state of poverty. Abby is water. We first see her picking through garbage next to a river. Instead of following her conscience she follows the the path of least resistence. The Farmer is air. We first see him on the top of his mansion tinkering with his wind instruments. He is ephemeral, phantom-like, no family, no relatives, one year to live when he is suppose to be in the bloom of life. And Linda is earth. In a voice over narration she muses:"I'm been thinkin' what to do with my future. I could be a mud doctor, checkin' out the earth underneath." As a teenager she is seeking a foundation for her life.
The story is narrated by the disarming Linda and her broken (Brooklyn-Chicogoan) accent. We soon discover she is on a journey toward maturation. Her narrations are really meditative voice-overs, ranging from the mundane to the profound. She is a youth attempting to make sense of her surroundings. As Bill and Abby throw sheaves of wheat into a wagon, and huge menacing threshing tractors pass by, she muses:
"From the time the sun went up 'till it went down, they were workin' all the time. Nonstop. Just keep goin'. You didn't work. They'd ship ya right outta there. They don't need you. They can always get somebody else."
For the first time, she realizes the world succumbing to an excess of industrialization and utilitarianism. To round off the point in the next frame the Farmer and accountant are discussing the year's profit. The largest ever!
The three adult characters engage in minimal dialogue. The relations between the adults are viewed through the eyes of the 13 year old girl who cannot yet relate to the thoughts and emotions of the adult world. The result is that the passions between Bill, Abby, and the Farmer tend to be distant, and mysterious; almost as if they are shadows. The loss, uncertainty, and complexity of human existance is the essence of this story, as opposed the driven struggle and cathartic resolution of a conventional drama. This film is a meditation.
What is lacking in the strange narration and minimal dialogue is made up for by the stunning cinematography. It is generally agreed by critics, teachers, and filmgoers alike that this is the most beautiful film ever made. A significant portion of the film was shot during the "magic hour," the time where the sun is close to the horizon thus producing enchanting colors on earth and sky. The result is poetry in motion, a film in which images tell the story as much as narration and dialogue. In between scenes: a bird is seen soaring in the wind, a bison feasting on the land, a plant is budding up toward the sun, the silouette of a scarecrow in the foreground of blood orange horizon. These brief interludes of images imply a larger reality; as if the happenings of this farm are a part of some divine drama encompassing all of creation.
Finally the score! Oh the score! Evocative, haunting, even scary. The composer borrows one of his themes from Saint-Saens "Carnival of Animals." The other two main themes are original. The first, a ghostly melody played during transitions, the second a love theme of Abby and the Farmer. Folk themes are incorporated, catching the spirit of these times and workers of the field. In the celebration of the end of the harvest, a buzzing french man pounds at the fiddle singing in revelry, Linda smiles in the reflection of the bonfire with surprising beauty. A smile soon to fade to pending sorrow.
 "Aquarium" Art October 28, 2008
Jeff Dunn (Alameda, California United States)
For viewers, this film is going to an art gallery, not a theater. It is about distance in nature and the effect of distance on memory. It is pervaded with the essential lonliness of the human condition and the need for animal survival. It is really not necessary to hear the dialog: the film would have been better as a silent film with occasional title slides. In fact, when the actors do speak, most of them sound artificial. I was impressed with Malick's concept, but not his ability to direct actors.
People should only watch this film if they are willing to simply luxuriate in the photography and the music--the credit for which, BTW, should go to the 19th-century French composer Camille Saint-Saens, not "arranger" Morricone. The main theme, "The Aquarium," from "Carnival of the Animals" is perfect for the tone of the film: beautiful animals in a totally different environment seen through a glass, darkly.
Light Magic June 21, 2008
Markus Gossas (Stockholm, Sweden)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This film is visually breathtaking, has a wonderful flow and the actors are better than I expected.
Also, the extras on the Criterion DVD is good, I especially liked the commentary about how certain scenes were made (a lot of effort was spent on filming in natural light which was risky but produced a very special quality).
Well worth owning and re-watching.
masterpiece theatre! May 20, 2008
Kerry O. Burns
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
DAYS OF HEAVEN is a cinematic masterpiece. Terrence Malick's ability to slowly develeop characters and plot might be anathema to today's MTV-style fast paced camera work and CGI laden movies. Thank you Mr Malick. The cinematography by Néstor Almendros won him a 1978 Oscar. It is breathtaking and an incredilbe part of the story. Richard Gere's finest work, Brooke Adams and Sam Sheppard are incredible. Linda Ganz a revelation. The film takes place in 1916 and slowly develops into a head of steam that literally blows at the end yet leaves you with a feeling of hope. Malick weaves a story with visuals better then any director and to think that the majestic visuals were created without the use of CGI is breathtaking.
Visually Brilliant March 25, 2008
CJA (Minneapolis, MN)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This remarkable film takes full advantage of the medium to tell a story with an absolute minimum of dialogue. The use of camera and music elevates a simple story of a love triangle to the level of epic myth.
The opening sequence of the film uses still shots and music to transport the viewer back to 1916 America. And then the brief sequences of the factory and the train to the farm demonstrate urban and rural life in the new industrial age.
Sam Shepard and Richard Gere are quite convincing in portraying, with almost no dialogue, the conflicting emotions and suffering of the rivals for Brooke Adams' affections. Adams also is well cast as the beautiful girl from humble circumstances who is at once corrupted and the source of all truth. And the narration by the child is a wonderful touch that adds an ironic perspective to the tale. Leo Kottke's guitar on the soundtrack is yet another perfect touch.
The story itself is a bit thin. Though it may well be that the elemental themes of love and jealousy and the social context that undercuts relationships are best portrayed in a mythic and epic fashion that abstracts from the individuals involved.
The movie is entrancing and one of the great films of the 1970s.
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