Days of Heaven (1978)

A hot-tempered farm laborer convinces the woman he loves to marry their rich but dying boss so that they can have a claim to his fortune.

Director:

Terrence Malick

Writer:

Terrence Malick

Stars:

Richard Gere, Brooke Adams, Sam Shepard

Won 1 Oscar. Another 12 wins & 8 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Richard Gere	...	Bill
Brooke Adams	...	Abby
Sam Shepard	...	The Farmer
Linda Manz	...	Linda
Robert J. Wilke	...	The Farm Foreman (as Robert Wilke)
Jackie Shultis	...	Linda's Friend
Stuart Margolin	...	Mill Foreman
Timothy Scott	...	Harvest Hand (as Tim Scott)
Gene Bell	...	Dancer
Doug Kershaw	...	Fiddler
Richard Libertini	...	Vaudeville Leader
Frenchie Lemond	...	Vaudeville Wrestler
Sahbra Markus	...	Vaudeville Dancer
Bob Wilson	...	Accountant
Muriel Jolliffe	...	Headmistress

Storyline

Bill and Abby, a young couple who to the outside world pretend to be brother and sister are living and working in Chicago at the beginning of the century. They want to escape the poverty and hard labour of the city and travel south. Together with the girl Linda (who acts as the narrator in the movie) they find employment on a farm in the Panhandle, Texas. When the harvest is over the young, rich and handsome farmer invites them to stay because he has fallen in love with Abby. When Bill and Abby discover that the farmer is seriously ill and has only got a year left to live they decide that Abby will accept his wedding proposal in order to make some benefit out of the situation. When the expected death fails to come, jealousy and impatience are slowly setting in and accidents become eventually inevitable.

---

Plot Keywords:

farm | love | farmer | wedding | dying | 

---

Taglines:

Your eyes... Your ears... Your senses... will be overwhelmed.

---

Genres:

Drama | Romance

---

Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Italian

Release Date:

13 September 1978 (USA)

Also Known As:

Días de gloria

Filming Locations:

Raymond, Alberta, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$3,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby (35 mm prints) 70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints)

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Terrence Malick spent two whole years editing this film.

---

Goofs

Just after the opening of the film at the steel mill, we see a freight train going across a high trestle in silhouette, with the roofs of the cars perfectly empty, but immediately we get a closeup of the train's roofs, looking forward, and it has scores of migrant workers sitting and sprawled on the roofs of the cars.

---

Quotes

Linda: This farmer, he had a big spread, and a lot of money. Whoever was sitting in a chair when he'd come around, why they'd stand up and give it to him.
Linda: Wasn't no harm in him. You'd give him a flower, he'd keep it forever.

---

Connections

Featured in At the Movies: Ennio Morricone in Conversation (2012)

---

Soundtracks

"Enderlin"
Written and Performed by Leo Kottke
Used by permission of Overdrive Musc A.S.C.A.P. Copyright 1978

User Reviews

Quiet passion, quiet beauty

"Days of Heaven" is a beautiful film with fantastic panoramic cinematography. It's hard to say what it is about this film that captivated me from the start. I didn't expect to enjoy it when I read about the plot. Farm workers? How could that be interesting... But oh, the haunting, heavenly silence of the fields undulating in the wind, a silence not sundered by any garish music. Everything about this film is tangible, real, alive. The dialogue is sparse, believable, the bond between Bill and Abby is one of quiet passion that needs no dramatic proclamations to fuel it. And Sam Shepard's farmer is touching. I don't use that word very often, but I'll venture it here. I have watched this film now several times, and it is a delight each time when the farmer first sees Abby. This perhaps the strongest and most believable love triangle ever put to film, and in my opinion, the most compelling.