Days of Heaven is an American drama film that was produced in 1978 by Terrence Malick. It entails a story of teenage lovers Abby and Bill in a setting of 1916. The two lovers travel to Texas and harvest crops for a rich farmer. During the harvesting, they realized that he was ill and was dying. They tricked him to get into a false marriage with Abby to inherit his wealth once the wealthy farmer died. A twist of events occurs, leaving their plan a mistake as the farmer remains healthy against the doctor’s words. Shortcuts are used frequently in life, but most of them result in unpredicted failure.
This story was set in ancient times towards the beginning of World War I. Bill was a manual laborer in Chicago in a steel mill. He knocks down his boss leaving him dead and is forced to flee. He escapes alongside his girlfriend, Abby and her younger sister, Linda. The three of them go to Texas and are recruited to work on a farm together with other people who are seasonal workers. The farm belongs to a rich but shy farmer, who according to a doctor, had only a year left to live. Bill overheard the doctor telling the farmer that he had such a short period to live because of a certain illness which is not mentioned in the plot of the story.
Ambitions are good if articulated and propelled in the right manner but catastrophic if done maliciously. Bill had ambitions to succeed in life, according to the story and wanted to gain wealth just like the farmer. He, however, had bad intentions on how to acquire the wealth as he wanted to trick the farmer into leaving his wealth to him and his girlfriend, Abby. Like any other person, he had formulated plans on how to get rich but did it in the wrong manner. He pushed Abby, his lover, into tricking the ailing farmer to get married to her (Cottle, 2022). The farmer had fallen in love with Abby and therefore, their plan of Bill is successful in getting them together.
The farmer and Abby get married and Bill stays as her brother, according to the information they had given the wealthy, ailing man. Just like any other malicious plan, the intentions of the young man, Bill were suspected by the foreman of the farmer. Bill and Abby his girlfriend, had not suspected or planned for anything in case of getting caught. They had planned to trick the farmer and get his wealth once he died. They had not seen any unexpected setbacks and the possibility of them occurring. Bill’s plans are further foiled as the health of the farmer remains stable.
In life, it is advisable to take a second thought before taking a step. One wrong move could change the outcome of many things, just like the evidence is clear in the story. Bill and Abby end up confused and without further knowledge of what to do next since the farmer remains alive. Apart from this, the farmer eventually realizes the scheme that was plotted to take advantage of him. The farmer, like any other person, loses trust in Bill but not in Abby since she had started to fall in love with him.
Events twist unexpectedly in the story as fires and a swarm of locusts destroys the farmer’s wheat fields. The farmer, therefore, no longer needs Bill and the other seasonal casual workers since there is nothing to harvest on his farm. Out of anger, the wealthy agriculturalist chases Bill using a gun but he defends himself and kills the farmer using a screwdriver. He fled with his girlfriend Abby and Linda but is pursued. The foreman and the police finally find the three of them and Bill is shot dead while running. Abby inherited the farmer’s estate, leaving her young sister Linda in a boarding school. As soldiers leave for World War I, Abby leaves with them on a train (Warner, 2020). Linda also escapes school with a friend from the farm during the same moment.
The story of Days in Heaven narrates the lives of young lovers, Bill and Abby. It depicts the life of any other young person during the ancient times before World War I. They were ambitious to succeed and gain wealth, although in the wrong manner. This story warns any person with intentions of getting wealthy unrightfully, like Bill and his girlfriend, who wanted to use shortcuts in life. It leaves Bill dead and Abby’s life scattered with her younger sister, Linda escaping from school. The ancient times which are the setting of the story, are used to reflect the modern times of people who would do anything to gain power. The plot of the narrative discourages them from being greedy and self-centered. The author demonstrates the disadvantages of doing those kinds of vices by giving a bad ending to Bill in the story.
References
Cottle, S. (2022). The Enigma of Terrence Malick’s Days of Heaven: History, nature, and Utopia in the American West. Quarterly Review of Film and Video, 39(2), 377-410. Web.
Warner, R. (2020). 11. Terrence Malick’s emergent lyricism in Badlands and Days of Heaven. Other Hollywood Renaissance, 177.