Days of Heaven was probably the most beautiful of the films we have seen this semester. Many of the shots, such as the first listed in the series of images, appears more like a painting than a shot of the vast, open fields. The literary elements that influence the film are the narration of Linda. She narrates the film but there is no emotion throughout the film, just simply told in a matter of fact way. We are able to tell that she has obviously lived through difficult times with her brother and that their struggles have seemed to create a disconnect between herself and the idea that things could become better (i.e. hope). Throughout the film she is comments on the love triangle between her brother, the farmer, and Abby, but really doesn't seem to be pulling for her brother or his plan to obtain the farmer's wealth. She simply states that rich people have it figured out.
Another element of the film is time. It is very abstract and difficult to grasp. Throughout the film, you are never really given a sense of time other than in one seen it may be snowing, which lets you know that it is winter. The film is shot at the "golden hour," so every day appears to be the same. Even when Bill leaves, it presents a very vague time line of how long he was gone, but when he does return all of the former issues quickly return. The locusts, a biblical plague, eat away and destroy the farmer, much like the odd brother sister relationship between Bill and Abby eat away at the farmer. Also, I get the feeling that is film is very similar to a Greek tragedy. This couple who is on the run from murder end up in Texas working in the fields and devise a plan to steal the farmer's wealth, but as Abby attempts this she begins to fall in love with the farmer and tensions between Bill and the famrer start to rise over the odd brother sister relationship that Bill and Abby seem to have. This eventually leads to destruction, murder, loss, and exile. Bill ends up dead, Abby ends up going to help in the war effort, and Linda runs off with her friend who she met on the farm. They are broken up because Bill believes that his plan will bring them all happiness.
Great stuff, Atlee. I like your comment about Linda's matter-of-fact tone. Her lack of emotion, in a way--though we do take it, perhaps, as a product of her reflecting back on the events--seems to make us ask ourselves about our own emotional reaction to what we're seeing. What about our response is automatic, perhaps conditioned? How and why should we re-evaluate this response? Your comment about the Greek tragedy is interesting, too, recognizing the mix of realism and symbolism here.
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