Narrative
Linda, Bill’s younger sister, is the guide to the story of the film (Days of Heaven). As a narrator, she often reflects on trivial ideas. However, she moves from banality to speaking about a human being, surprising viewers with her wisdom. According to Gocsik et al., an ability to notice such deep thoughts is one of the methods of analyzing movies (4). Perhaps, the girl tells this story due to the director’s desire to show the complexity and problems of the adult world on the part of the young heroine. It, in turn, makes the film dynamic (Days of Heaven). Throughout the story, Linda learns a new life and tries to be accustomed to the new environment because of their emergency move to Texas. The realization that it is the narrative of a young girl makes the viewer think about the complexity of human relationships and difficulties that people sometimes have to face and experience.
Cinematography
In one of the shots of the movie, it is possible to see the house in which Bill, the protagonist, stays (Days of Heaven). It is the general plan of the landscape with one central object. The building stands alone among the yellow spaces of wheat. In this shot, an essential motive can be read – despite the perfection of artificial and cultural life, it will never come close to boundless and ideal nature. Bill escapes not only from the crime committed but also from civilization to still untouched by humans territories (Days of Heaven). As Gocsik et al. remark, the detailed study of shots can allow deep penetrating into the idea of the director and evaluate his or her creative message (23). Certainly, there is a relationship between the emphasis on the natural world in this film and the narrative told by Linda (Days of Heaven). Simple and, at the same time, deep girl’s thoughts are similar to the world where the main characters have settled and may be considered the embodiment of untouched and pure nature.
Works Cited
Days of Heaven. Directed by Terrence Malick, performance by Richard Gere and Brooke Adams, Paramount Pictures, 1978.
Gocsik, Karen M., et al. Writing about Movies. 4th ed., W. W. Norton & Company, 2015.