Days of Heaven - Amber Merrell

I found it to be very fitting that much of the movie takes place during the sunset hour. The red and amber colored glow in the background romanticizes everything that takes place. This effectively highlights the most important parts of the characters’ day: after work. This could have been a movie about the hardships of traveling about, doing whatever physical labor that presents itself as an opportunity for food and money to survive. But instead, Days of Heaven seems to be about the relationships of Bill, Abby, and Linda and the tough decisions that come with life. Thus, the movie focuses on what happens after the hard day of work is done. The romantic glow of sunset illustrates this by placing dramatic visual emphasis on these moments.

One part of the movie that especially stood out to me was when the host of wagons came through the gate to the farm, bringing new hands to the fields. This also takes place during “golden hour” which sets the stage for the rest of the movie. The gate itself stands very tall and strong, and though it is elegant it also seems rather oppressive and impersonal to me. As the wagons make their way through the gate, the farmer’s very large house can be seen in the distance. This image of extravagance paired with the stark gate seems to suggest that the work to be done on this farm is for one purpose only, and that is to benefit the farmer. Once this work is done, then you mean nothing to the employer. Nothing else of significance is in sight and the signs of the farm’s success lie solely within the grand appearance of the house and gate.

I also found the lengthy locust scene to be very interesting. Instead of merely showing them coming into the fields in vast numbers, there were multiple close-up shots of the locusts actually eating the crops. This is a very dramatic entrance to this section of the film. I found that these images suggest the doom of the main characters’ situation. A handful of insects will not do much damage to a large crop, just as a relationship can withstand a few problems. However, the close-ups of the insects and the damage that so many of them can inflict show how the choices and actions of Bill and Abby have compounded into a larger problem. Abby is tired of moving around all of the time, they seem to be bored in their lives, and they decided to use the farmer for their own profit. All of these issues have amassed into a plague that will not only destroy the farm but also their relationship with each other.