Days of Heaven (1978). Photofest.
(Terrence Malick, US 1978, 94 min., 35mm)
Morricone×2. Ennio Morricone composed three primary themes for Terrence Malick’s film—a French-inspired Main Theme, a sweeping pastoral theme featuring the flute, and the haunting love theme for our protagonists (Richard Gere, Brooke Adams). Gere plays Bill, on the run from Chicago to the Texas panhandle in 1914. Along with him are his girlfriend Abby (Adams) and younger sister Linda. They take seasonal work with a farmer (Sam Shepard) who doesn’t have long to live. Bill convinces Abby to marry the farmer so they can inherit the land and stay there forever. Nestor Almendros, a favorite cinematographer of both François Truffaut and Éric Rohmer, combines his talents with those of Malick and Morricone to create one of the great elegies for the idealized American frontier.
Also showing: Friday, March 29