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Even the story is a wisp of a thing.
Plot points dont occur inDays of Heaven; they drift by like memories.
The wealthy, doomed farmer spies Abby across the fields and falls for her.
Maybe it was the way the wind blew through her hair.)
Bill convinces Abby to marry the farmer, knowing that the man doesnt have long left.
Itll all be gone in a couple of years.
Whos gonna care that we acted perfect?
His words sounds like a philosophical statement.
We have to lean in to catch the moment when the farmer finds out hes dying.
We never really see him sick, either.
Like my whole life is over.
Like Im not around no more.
Extinction is the way of this world.
We think ofDays of Heavenas an epic, but its only 94 minutes long.
It feels like a grand vision, but the director apparently came to it via desperation.
Malicks original script was elaborate, verbose, an intricate period piece.
Some compared it to Dostoevsky at the time.
Brooke Adams, in a fascinatingrecent interview, likens it to a Thomas Hardy novel.
(The plot also has overtones of Henry JamessWings of the Dove.)
But the director started excising material during rehearsals, and continued to do so as he shot.
Nobody was buying any of it.
The production was running behind schedule and over budget and it looked headed toward disaster.
Slowly, out of all that trial and error, the magnificent film emerged.
And it wasnt a narrative thing, they were responding to its rhythms and its style.
Even the directors career, for years, seemed to reflect the impermanence hed made a film about.
Sometimes, I wonder if he thinks he dreamt it all.
