Days of Heaven: Narrative
The narration introduced by a little but mature girl Linda is a powerful aspect of Days of Heaven. Though she uses scanty vocabulary, her ideas do not seem limited due to her wide imagination. Linda makes strong judgments about people, saying that “there was never a perfect person around” with “half-angel and half-devil in you” (Days of Heaven). She endows the sun with interesting quality to look “ghostly when there’s a mist on a river and everything’s quiet” and reveals people’s intentions “calling for help or something, or … trying to bury somebody or something” (Days of Heaven). Linda can hardly be characterized as an innocent or poorly developed kid. She tells the story about the relationships between people and describes how to become a woman or earn a living. As a narrator, she learns the experiences of her family and friends to be ready to begin her story.
Days of Heaven: Cinematography
A massive archway that welcomes workers and guests of the farm is one of my favorite shots in Days of Heaven. This establishing short introduces the setting and the connection between the characters and the environment (Gocsik et al. 212). It captures the image of an arch that symbolizes a new stage of life. The characters enter a new full of opportunities world. It seems that all past sins and problems disappear as soon as the arch is crossed, provoking a number of emotions like fear, joy, and excitement. For Linda, it is a chance to continue living and staying together with a family. This arch becomes a ticket to change something. “I’ve been thinking what to do with my future. I could be a mud doctor. Checking out the earth. Underneath” (Days of Heaven). The arch proves itself as a remarkable setting for the characters that change their lives.
Works Cited
Days of Heaven. Directed by Terrence Malick, performances by Richard Gere, Brooke Adams Sam Shepard, and Linda Manz, Paramount Pictures, 1978.
Gocsik, Karen M., et al. Writing about Movies. 4th ed., W. W. Norton & Company, 2016.