An incredible film from the late 70's by Terrence Malick with music from Ennio Morricone.
I'm not usually into tragic love stories, but this Criterion Collection issue of Malick's film from 1978 really moved me. Richard Gere stars as a murderous steel worker in the early 1900's. He confidently sends his boss to a dirt nap(although it was an accident) and escapes with his girlfriend to Texas where they take up working for a farmer. Apparently, the foreman thinks they suck and immediately becomes suspicious of them. Sam Shepherd stars as the good looking farm owner with the crooked teeth. He lives in the "obviously rich" house.
He falls in love with Gere's girlfriend. Gere and his girl are travelling under the guise that they're brother and sister. This enables Gere to cook up a scam when he realizes the farmer has some horrendous disease. The farmer is seduced by Gere's "sister" and they get married. See where this is going? Anyway, a whole bunch of horrible shit happens after that. On a bright note: No gerbils were harmed during filming.
The cinematography in this movie is amazing with lots of wide angled landscapes that are really beautiful. The movie has a sort of dream like quality that I enjoy. Dialogue is often minimal and a good portion of the film is narrated by a young girl. Life sure was hard back then, you betcha.
I haven't seen much of Malick's work. I did see the "Thin Red Line" about 10 years ago and really liked it. I did not make the connection until I read the bio in the booklet that came with the dvd. When I think about that movie now I see a lot of the same stylistic qualities at hand.
No comments:
Post a Comment