Days of Heaven (1978)

Directed by Terence Malick. Starring Richard Gere, Brooke Adams, Sam Shepard, Linda Manz, Robert Wilke. [PG]

Visually expressive World War I-era story of three laborers (a man, his sister, and his lover) who are hired on as seasonal fieldhands working wheat crops in the Texas Panhandle. As observed by the sister (Manz) with the crudely elliptical poetry of extemporized narration, the characters and emotions are cursory, even remote, but this is a film of moods and sensations, the sweep of nature and human existence centered almost entirely on the open canvas of an infinitesimal farm where soul survival and punishment are inexorably intertwined. Exquisitely photographed by Néstor Almendros and Haskell Wexler (the latter receiving only an “additional photography” credit, snubbed of a statuette when the pic nabbed an Oscar), complemented by evocative and often subtle soundscapes, including Ennio Morricone’s lushly pastoral music. Malick was named Best Director at the Cannes Film Festival.

87/100