Days of Heaven - Bradley Strickland

The lyrical presentation of America’s working class in Days of Heaven centered on several paradoxes. The central set of the film, a wheat field, became an embodiment for these paradoxes of love and hate, happiness and tragedy, hopes and fears, rich and poor, past and future. The field in a sense became a microcosm for human struggle and hope.

The representation of nature in this film was very artistic. Close ups showing the wheat growing out of the ground and extreme long shots of the field reinforced the beauty of nature, the animals, and the landscape. Further, it illustrated a central relationship in the movie; it showed us an inherent connection between nature and the characters that were dependent upon the field for their livelihood. One great example of this is the fire scene. The farmer’s wrath and anger are symbolized by the fire and locusts that engulfed the field. In addition, we see here how the farmer’s love for Abby become hate for Bill.

The film is full of symbols and literary devices. One example involves the wine glass dropped into the river. The glass stolen from the farmer falling into the river foreshadows Bill’s exact fate – as he is shot and dies in the river. It seems to show us that the scheme to get rich is a dangerous one with consequences. It also shows us the vast difference between the wealth of the farmer and the poverty of Bill; Abby is caught between the two.

Interestingly, the film constantly marvels us with artistic and lyrical representations of the characters and the landscape while remaining extremely realistic. The natural lighting, the realistic sounds of crickets and locusts, and the dust and hay that cloud many shots all give us an intimate view of the world these people live in. It allows for the film to be a journal in a sense for the child, Linda. Just as a journal would, it consciously distorts time and openly gives its opinion on what is important. Thus, the film seems to be very precise in setting the mood and time. It leaves the characters for months and then comes back to them. We see the change in Bill, Abby, and the farmer; we see what love, hate, and manipulation does to people. However, we see Linda just as constant as anything. We see her forced into a grownup’s world, but knowing exactly how to handle it. It is difficult to tell whether she learned anything from her brother’s death. It seems though that Linda has something to teach us – not the other way around. She seems to tell us something about the past and the future – our history and the fragments of our own journals are part of a larger whole. As the film ends we see one last symbol involving the train tracks. They represent her future – though she doesn’t know where she is going, she knows where she has been.